11 Members of Parliament from the North-Eastern region have been detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) shortly after arrival from Mogadishu, Somalia.
Reports indicate that the lawmakers were grilled over their secret trip to Somalia on Saturday where they reportedly had a meeting with Somalia’s National Intelligence without the knowledge of Kenya’s security services.
They were freed after interrogation.
The MPs, whose number had earlier been reported as eight, are said to have planned the trip without clearance from the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Foreign Affairs ministry.
A list released by Airport Commandant Titus Karuri revealed that six of the parliamentarians are from Mandera, three from Wajir and two from Garissa.
They include; Kullow Maalim (Banisa), Ahmed Kolosh (Wajir West), Ibrahim Abdi (Lafey), Rashid Kassim (Wajir East), Mohamed Hire (Lagdera), Omar Maalim (Mandera East), Bashir Abdullahi (Mandera North), Adan Haji (Mandera West), Adan Ali sheikh (Mandera South), Mohamed Dahir (Dadaab) and Ahmed Bashane (Tarbaj).
Read: 11 Kenyan MPs Stranded in Mogadishu after Secret Meeting with Somalia’s Intelligence Services
Their visit comes at the backdrop of strained diplomatic relations between the Kenyan government and Somalia authorities.
Over the recent past, tension has been growing near the Kenyan border in Mandera after it emerged that the Somali National Alliance (SNA) was allegedly amassing troops in preparation for planned clashes.
This comes even as Somalia continues to accuse Kenya of hosting fugitive minister Abdirashid Janan Hassan Abdinur, who escaped from a Mogadishu prison on January 28, 2020.
Those in the know say the lawmakers risk treason charges as they are accused of being sympathetic to Somali clan politics.
Earlier, several vehicles belonging to Serious Crimes and Anti-terror police units were spotted at the Wilson Airport as the detectives laid a trap for the MPs.
Read Also: Nigeria, Somalia and DRC Listed as African Countries Where Women Are Most at Risk
It later emerged that the plane carrying the MPs was scheduled to land at JKIA forcing the police and journalists to rush to the airport.
Meanwhile, sources have intimated to Kahawa Tungu that there were some weird activities by Kenya’s security services in Wajir on Sunday morning.
It is said that a delegation of Jubaland President was spotted in the town in the morning. There is no information about his mission in Wajir as those in the know have kept the news hush-hush.
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