Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki now says the reopening of Kenya-Somalia border points will delay following a spate of terror attacks.
He said other forms of cross-border crime are on the rise hence the need to delay the plans.
This follows an increase in terror-related attacks along the Kenya-Somalia border in the past month that have claimed more than 30 lives most of them being security officers.
“The government will delay the planned reopening of Kenya-Somalia border points until we conclusively deal with the recent spate of terror attacks and cross-border crime,” he said.
“We have postponed the plans to reopen the main borders in Mandera, Wajir, here Liboi and Kiunga due to the increased attacks by the terrorists in the past months. We will deal with them first then continue with the plans.”
He made the remarks in the Dadaab refugee camp Wednesday while on the ongoing tour of the northern region to address terror-related attacks.
He said the plans to reopen the border points will continue. The border points were closed in 2011 at the height of the al Shabaab attacks.
Kindiki had in May this year announced Kenya and Somalia had resolved to open the border in phases, within the next 90 days.
This particular border point provides entry from the Kenyan side at Mandera County.
Kindiki affirmed that the government will continue to engage with the Federal Government of Somalia to develop and implement joint approaches and strategies cutting across social economic and insecurity issues.
His counterpart from Somalia, Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali said the Federal Government is committed to promoting and strengthening corporation with its neighbours to improve security.
The two also resolved to strengthen cross-border communication and information-sharing exchange between the two countries.
On Wednesday while on his second day of the visit to the area, Kindiki said they had launched an operation targeting the terror cells in the area.
Kindiki said the operation is also aimed at providing round-the-clock security to contractors and engineers working on key infrastructure projects in North Eastern Kenya and insulating them from criminal elements and extremists keen on sabotaging their operations.
“Construction of key roads such as Garissa-Wajir-Mandera and Lamu-Mandera roads will open up the North Eastern Region for development and economic growth,” he said.
“The government has upscaled partnerships with the local communities to flush out criminal elements and violent extremists.”
To ensure the safety of security officers, he said, plans are at an advanced stage to procure modern equipment, including choppers, drones, MRAPs, and armoured personnel carriers.
He said the government will invest more than Sh20 billion in the modernisation of security equipment and address the welfare of security officers.
He also met and held a consultative engagement with the local Security and Intelligence Committee, National Government Administration Officers, community and religious leaders.
“Through collaborative partnerships with community and religious leaders, security agencies will crush violent extremists, combat cross-border crime, and facilitate development in the North Eastern region,” he said.