Foreign Affairs PS Kamau Macharia tweet causes tension in Somalia, Ambassador summoned

The Somalia government on Monday took serious measures following a tweet by a Kenyan government official which they termed as an attack on the sovereignty of the Horn-of-Africa nation.

A statement from the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs outlined that the Kenyan Ambassador to Somalia Lt. General (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo had been summoned and handed a protest letter on the matter.

"On Sunday (June 30,2019), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation summoned the Ambassador...Lt. General (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo and handed him a protest note against an offensive tweet by Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya, Mr Macharia Kamau on 27 June 2019.

Tweet by Foreign Affairs PS Kamau Macharia causes tension in Somalia, Ambassador Lt. General (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo summoned Pulse Live Kenya

"We consider this tweet an affront to Somalia's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity as well as harmful to the relationship between Somalia and Kenya," the brief read in part.

Foreign Affairs PS Kamau Macharia's Twitter causing trouble

The PS appears to have since deleted the controversial tweet and maintained only retweets from the Foreign Affairs ministry on the said date.

He had met with Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Yasin Hagi Mohamed on the said date and the tweet only outlines that they "discussed issues of mutual interest between the two countries and ways of strengthening cooperation".

PS Macharia's Twitter bio, however, clearly offers a disclaimer that the messages he tweets are his personal view and retweets are not equivalent to endorsements.