A new diplomatic row is brewing between Kenya and Somalia after Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister was reportedly denied entry into Kenya and deported over allegations of possessing fraudulently acquired Kenyan travel documents. The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), where the Somali Deputy Prime Minister, Jibril Abdirashid Haji, arrived aboard a Saacid Airlines flight from Mogadishu.
According to immigration sources, Haji presented a valid Somali diplomatic passport alongside an entry visa upon arrival. However, immigration officials reportedly flagged him after suspecting that he also possessed a Kenyan passport believed to have been acquired through fraudulent channels.
Sources familiar with the matter allege that the Somali official acknowledged ownership of the Kenyan passport but declined to surrender it to immigration authorities, insisting instead that the matter be adjudicated through a formal judicial process.
The standoff prompted senior immigration officials to detain Haji at the JKIA VIP Lounge while an investigation into his travel documents was conducted. He was subsequently escorted onto a Mogadishu-bound Daallo Airlines flight, effectively denying him entry into Kenya.
Neither the Kenyan nor the Somali government had issued an official statement regarding the incident at the time of publication.
However, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the deportation.
“He departed on 25/06/2026 at 0645hrs with no incident reported,” a police report on the incident indicates.
A senior government official familiar with the matter stated that authorities are increasingly concerned about the rising number of foreign nationals acquiring Kenyan passports illegally through corrupt networks.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the alleged acquisition of the passport remain ongoing.
