A new project will reopen the official border crossings between Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, which have been partially or entirely closed in recent years due to security concerns.
Rigathi Gachagua, the deputy president of Kenya, said the initiative will enhance socio-economic growth between the three nations while speaking at the unveiling on Thursday in the border town of Mandera.
“Infrastructural development is silenced by armed conflicts, we must silence the gun for the industries to roar back, we must silence the violence for socio-economic prosperity,” he said.
The U.K.-funded project, called “Deris Wanaag” in Somali, which translates to “Good Neighbourliness,” seeks to address the ongoing instability and insecurity in the countries of the Horn of Africa.
Despite occasional blockades at some border crossings over the past decade, terrorists, criminals, and regular migrants continue to move freely across borders. Last year, the Somali extremist group Al-Shabab moved hundreds of men into Ethiopia before local authorities drove them out.
According to Jane Marriot, the British High Commissioner to Kenya, the project is a critical one for both Kenya and the Horn of Africa.
“You have numerous challenges together — drought, resource conflicts, armed proliferation, terrorism — but you also have so much that is good and positive together, and it is that we want this program to help bring on,” she said.
According to Gachagua, the governments will put policies into place to end violence, including bettering the networks of roads and water infrastructure as well as strengthening education.
The governments said that they would employ intelligence and more personnel at the border to apprehend al-Shabab insurgents in order to address the fundamental causes of terrorism.
To restrict the movements of al-Shabab, Kenya blocked its official border crossing points with Somalia in 2012. The Mandera border post, along with the Lamu, Wajir, and Garissa border crossings, were all closed.
However, Kenya declared early this year that its border with Somalia and Ethiopia will be reopened.
The project, according to Somalia’s Minister of Security Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh, is timely and will successfully address problems with cross-border instability.
“And in that spirit of collective solidarity, there has never been a better time to forge common destiny and collectively participate in this project to tackle cross-border challenges,” Sheikh said.
The project launched a day after Kenya and the United Kingdom signed a security compact on Wednesday.
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