Mandera Border to Reopen After Years of Security Closure
By Chemtai Kirui
Nairobi, Feb 13 —President William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto has announced plans to reopen the Mandera border crossing with Somalia in April, ending years of restricted movement along a frontier shaped by security threats, diplomatic tensions and disrupted trade.
“It is unacceptable that fellow Kenyans in Mandera remain cut off from their kin and neighbors in Somalia due to the prolonged closure of the Mandera Border Post,” Ruto said in a statement. “Accordingly, we will reopen the border post in April, restoring connectivity and revitalising cross-border trade for the mutual prosperity of our people.”
The decision marks a shift in the country’s management of its north-eastern frontier, an area that has experienced repeated security incidents linked to militant activity over the past decade.
Reactivating a formal crossing point shifts movement away from informal routes toward regulated channels and comes amid renewed bilateral engagement between Nairobi and Mogadishu.
Mandera County has experienced intermittent security incidents attributed to al-Shabaab, including attacks on transport vehicles and government facilities in past years.
Authorities say strengthened patrols and intelligence sharing have reduced the frequency of major incidents compared to the peak period of cross-border attacks between 2013 and 2017.
However, the frontier remains classified as a high-risk security zone, and agencies continue operations aimed at preventing militant infiltration.
Officials have not indicated that the broader security posture will be relaxed following the reopening.
The government has periodically restricted or closed sections of its border with Somalia since 2011, when it deployed troops into Somalia to combat al-Shabaab. The intervention was later folded into an African Union peacekeeping mission and followed by retaliatory attacks inside Kenya.
Kenya remains a troop-contributing country to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, and both governments continue security dialogue on cross-border threats.
In 2015 and 2016, after deadly incidents including the attack at Garissa University and cross-border raids in Mandera County, the government closed or severely restricted several crossing points in the north-east, citing national security concerns.
Authorities said the measures aimed to curb militant infiltration, illicit arms flows and smuggling networks.
The Mandera crossing, located near the tri-border area of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, has since operated under varying levels of restriction, with intensified screenings and curtailed formal trade routes.
Ruto’s announcement specifically referenced the Mandera Border Post in Mandera town, directly opposite Bula Hawa in Somalia’s Gedo region, an area with long-standing commercial and family ties across the border.
For Mandera residents, the move restores structured connectivity with communities across the border where family networks, trade links and social ties often transcend national boundaries.
Cross-border trade is a key economic pillar in Mandera County, where pastoralism and livestock markets underpin livelihoods. County data indicate pastoralism contributes about 72 per cent of household incomes.
Even during closures, traders have continued moving livestock and consumer goods through informal routes.
Local leaders have long argued that prolonged closure disrupted livelihoods, separated families and encouraged unregulated trade corridors that are harder to monitor.
How the Reopening Will Work
The reopening is expected to restore formal movement of goods and people through designated entry points, subject to immigration, customs and security controls.
Authorities have yet to release detailed operational guidelines, but previous reopening’s have involved phased trade resumption, improved screening and joint security coordination.
Under Kenyan law, border management falls under agencies including the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Department of Immigration Services, working alongside national security bodies and county security committees.
Kenya shares a 682-kilometre border with Somalia, much of it sparsely populated and difficult to monitor. A planned security barrier along parts of the frontier, initiated in 2015, has seen uneven implementation.
Diplomatic ties between Kenya and Somalia have faced strains, notably during a maritime boundary dispute adjudicated by the International Court of Justice in 2021, though engagement has since resumed at senior levels.
Somalia continues operations against al-Shabaab, alongside ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation with Kenya.
The April reopening of the Mandera Border Post represents not a reversal of security policy but an adjustment, seeking to balance regulated cross-border commerce with continued vigilance.
For now, the government’s position is clear: restore formal connectivity while maintaining security oversight
