NAIROBI (Somaliguardian) – Raila Odinga, who is running for president in Kenya’s upcoming elections in 2022, pledged that he would resume Kenyan miraa khat exports to Somalia amid ban on the drug which is still in place in the neighboring Horn of Africa nation.
Kenya had exported about 50 tonnes of Khat to Somalia daily, before the Somali federal government suspended the imports of the narcotic drug from the neighboring country amid worsening diplomatic row. It had been sold at $5 a kilo, making Kenyan growers around $250,000 a day.
Odinga, who had served served as prime minister between 2008-2013, said he was aware that Khat growers were taking a hit after the export of their products to Somalia had slipped to a decade low and promised that he would reopen Somalia’s market for them if he wins presidency.
He told his supporters in Meru County that they had agreed with authorities of the break-away state of Somaliland to open their doors for Kenyan khat exports, though the federal government based in Mogadishu later stonewalled the move.
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