Hormuud accuses Kenyan troops of destroying telecom infrastructure in Somalia

Somalia’s largest telecommunications company, Hormuud Telecom, has accused Kenyan troops stationed in the Lower Juba region of “deliberately destroying” its telecommunications infrastructure, an allegation Kenya has not responded to.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Hormuud said the destruction was carried out by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), causing significant economic losses and disrupting essential services for tens of thousands of civilians.

“Hormuud Telecom Company strongly condemns the intentional destruction of its telecommunications infrastructure in the Lower Juba region by Kenya Defence Forces,” the company said. “The incident resulted in major economic and financial losses and disrupted vital services relied upon by local communities.”

Hormuud said between 20,000 and 30,000 residents in Lower Juba and surrounding areas were affected after telecommunications and mobile financial services were cut. The disruption affected access to communication, and financial transactions, services the company described as critical to daily life. Residents were left without communication and essential services for an extended period, the statement added.

There was no immediate response from the Kenyan government or the Kenya Defence Forces to the allegations.

Founded in 2002 in Mogadishu, Hormuud Telecom is a privately owned company providing mobile, fixed-line, internet and mobile banking services across Somalia. Its mobile money platform, EVC Plus, is widely used for everyday transactions, bill payments and remittances in a country with limited access to traditional banking.

Hormuud serves an estimated four million subscribers nationwide and offers 2G, 3G and 5G services, making it a central part of Somalia’s digital infrastructure. The company says it employs more than 35,000 people, making it the country’s largest private-sector employer. The firm is owned by more than 12,000 Somali shareholders worldwide, many of them from the diaspora.

Kenyan troops entered Somalia in October 2011 under Operation Linda Nchi, following a series of cross-border attacks and kidnappings blamed on the Islamist group Al-Shabaab. Kenya said the operation aimed to create a buffer zone along the border to improve its national security.

The deployment initially raised concerns among Somalia’s leaders, with fears that Kenya’s intervention “violated Somalia’s sovereignty” and that Nairobi might have territorial ambitions in the Jubaland region.

In 2012, Kenyan forces were formally incorporated into the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), later replaced by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), operating under a United Nations mandate. Kenya was assigned responsibility for parts of southern Somalia, including areas around the port city of Kismayo.

While Kenyan forces have played a key role in operations against Al-Shabaab, their presence has at times been controversial, with periodic tensions between Nairobi and Mogadishu. Somalia repeatedly accused Kenyan troops of violating its sovereignty in Jubbaland, particularly in the Gedo region. The most notable incidents occurred in Beled-Hawo, a border town where Somali federal forces clashed with Jubbaland state forces, allegedly backed by Kenya. Mogadishu claimed that Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia’s territory without authorization, supporting Jubbaland troops against federal forces.

In December 2020, Somalia severed diplomatic ties with Kenya, citing Nairobi’s support for Jubbaland’s President Ahmed Madobe as undermining federal authority. This marked one of the lowest points in bilateral relations, with sovereignty violations becoming a central grievance.

Somalia’s accusations were not limited to military incursions but extended to political influence. Farmaajo’s administration argued that Kenya was attempting to weaken Mogadishu’s control by bolstering Jubbaland’s semi-autonomous leadership. Jubbaland’s President Madobe had a contentious relationship with Farmaajo. From Somalia’s perspective, this amounted to a violation of sovereignty, as Kenya was accused of shaping Somali domestic politics through military and diplomatic means. Kenya, however, defended its actions as necessary for border security, pointing to frequent Al-Shabaab attacks in Mandera County and insisting that its involvement was part of broader counter-terrorism efforts under the African union led peace keeping mission.