Security breach unlikely to strain relations with Sudan

Kenya is optimistic her relationship with South Sudan will remain strong despite a security breach by the neighbouring country which led to the deaths of two policemen and four herders in the north western region of Turkana.

On Wednesday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Moses Wetang'ula handed a protest note to the Sudanese ambassador to Kenya, Majok Guandong, after the officers were killed on Saturday when Torposas tribesmen from South Sudan raided Turkana and stole 1,000 livestock.

"We do not see the raids as a government policy, it's a cultural issue," said Elijah Matibo, senior advisor to the President Mwai Kibaki and the Cabinet on South Sudan issues.

Mr Guandong told the minister he "regretted" the incident and promised to cooperate with Kenyan officials to investigate the attack and ensure that similar attacks do not occur in future.

The two agreed to hold a security meeting on Thursday September 3, 2009 at the border town of Nadapal, to address this issue as well as other concerns of the Kenya Government.

An information officer at the South Sudan's Ministry for Regional Cooperation liaison office in Nairobi, Jervasio Okot, said the raids were a communal fight for resources and should not affect relations between the two countries.

"Kenya is a very strategic country to the interests of South Sudan, we cannot afford to jeopardize our relations," he said.

The latest diplomatic strain between Nairobi and Juba comes days after Kenya warned South Sudan of possible bumpy relations if the government does not prevent armed incursions into Kenyan territory by armed raiders.

National Security Minister, Prof George Saitoti, had warned that Kenya will not tolerate such practices in the future.

The government said it was concerned that South Sudan could also start laying territorial claims to Elemi Triangle, an area whose border coordinates are vague but is assumed to be part of Kenya.

Earlier this month, Mr Wetang'ula had again summoned the Sudanese ambassador to protest against the treatment of Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang' and Prof Saitoti by Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers manning a roadblock inside Kenya's territory.

The concerns come in the wake of growing interest in business opportunities in South Sudan by Kenyan firms and individuals.

Source: http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/646054/-/u7qdv2z/-/index.html