Somalia’s Finance Minister, Abdirahman Beileh, has addressed confusions regarding recent khat (miraa) bans being lifted by the administration. According to the minister the bans are operational for Khat traders from Kenya and not for those from Ethiopia.
Abdirahman was addressing an apparent misrepresentation of his words earlier on during the week. Some had interpreted his briefing on the khat bans as signifying that the bans were lifted for Kenyan traders as well.
The minister affirmed that the khat bans that Somalia had imposed on khat coming into the country during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic are still in place for khat coming from Kenya.
Recently, a number of Kenyan khat traders and traders’ associations have accused the Somalian government of using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to propagate its anti-Kenya sentiments.
To read more about the khat trading issues in East Africa go here.