THE STANDARD
By
Macharia Munene |
January 25th 2021 at 08:00:00 GMT +0300
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed address the media shortly after inspecting ongoing developments at the new 32-berth Lamu Port in Lamu County in December 2020. [PSCU]
Signs of unpleasant geopolitical rumblings in the Igad cluster are visible within and outside each of the countries. Eritrea, on the Red Sea, punches above its geographical and demographical size and often appears like the friction instigator in the Horn of Africa.
Its differences with Kenya are over the Al Shabaab terror group that operates in Somalia as if they own it. Other Horn of Africa countries have rumblings that disturb the neighbourhood. Kenya, the most stable, faces 18 months of intense political friction as power aspirants Raila Odinga and William Ruto fight to succeed Uhuru Kenyatta in August 2022. The hope is that their power struggle would not deteriorate into repeat violence.