Monday, September 12, 2016
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Porters gather around a truck carrying khat in Mogadishu August 6, 2014. Grown on plantations in the highlands of Kenya and Ethiopia, tonnes of khat, or qat, dubbed "the flower of paradise" by its users, are flown daily into Mogadishu airport, to be distributed from there in convoys of lorries to markets across Somalia. Britain, whose large ethnic Somali community sustained a lucrative demand for the leaves (FILE PHOTO)
The suspension of all flights ferrying miraa to Somalia does not affect other flights, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has said.
KCAA communications manager Salim Bakari in a statement said diplomatic, NGO missions and passenger flights are not affected by the notice given by the Somalia Civil Aviation Authority.
“KCAA received a notice from the director general Somali Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority, that from September 6, 2016, all miraa flights to Somalia have been banned until further notice,” Bakari said.
The Somali Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority general manager Captain Abdiwahid Ahmed banned miraa cargo flights on September 4.
“Considering special circumstances, SCAMA, on behalf of the Federal Republic of Somalia, hereby informs all miraa cargo operators and anyone it may concern that miraa cargo flights and their operations in Somalia have been cancelled effective September 6, until further notice,” Ahmed said.
He said any violation of Somalian airspace and disregard for the notice will have equal consequences. The Somali government did not explain why the ban was imposed and for how long.
The Interior ministry and KCAA have been copied the letters. Bakari said efforts are being made to reverse the notice and allow miraa farmers to secure the market.
“KCAA is already engaging its Somalia counterpart to reconsider the ban as it may have adverse implicatios for the livelihoods of the affected harvesters,”he said.
Bakari said there is a misconception that the notice affects commercial and other humanitarian operations.
Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe said on Friday the government is engaging Somalia.
In April, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that miraa farmers would receive Sh1 billion to cushion them from losses after the United Kingdom banned the stimulant.
The miraa industry has faced challenges after Britain imposed the ban in 2014. The Netherlands banned miraa in 2012. It is estimated that 16 planes carrying miraa jet into Somalia every day.
The stimulant is chewed widely across Somalia and produces a feeling of euphoria. In January, Somali President Hassan Mohamud said the trade in and consumption of miraa have a “devastating” impact on Somalis and must be banned.
“We had a series of discussions and consultations and we agreed to end the trade in the narcotic leaf,” he said. “We will first act by reducing its trade and finally put an end to it.”
Mohamud’s action was seen as hitting back at Kenya’s plan to shut the Dadaab camp and the repatriation of Somali refugees. Somalia termed the shutting of the camp “irregular”.