MOGADISHU – There is nothing to discuss about the maritime dispute with Kenya, Somalia has said.
Mogadishu says it will not accept any mediation over the maritime dispute with Kenya, which the International Court of Justice ruled in October 2021.
According to Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Mohamed Omar, his country will not get involved in any negotiations with Kenya to resolve the dispute, noting that the ICJ ruling was final.
Omar was responding to a question by a member of a Somalia Parliamentary Committee, who sought clarification following reports that Kenya’s President William Ruto had asked President Ismail Guelleh of Djibouti to help settle on an out of court negotiation.
President Guelleh is the IGAD Chairman.
However, Omar said Somalia will only consider the ICJ ruling, which they consider as the final settlement of the maritime dispute.
The minister, instead, says Somalia will abide by the Court’s ruling which mostly re-demarcated the sea border between the two countries.
“Regarding the remarks made by Ruto, the maritime dispute was settled by the ICJ and there is no turning point on that. The court verdict favoured Somalia’s sovereignty. Perhaps the implementation of the court ruling is possible, but the ownership isn’t anything on the table,” he said.
Omar noted that the proposal to negotiate came as a surprise, adding that there is no dispute between Kenya and Somalia for Djibouti to solve as the court ruling is final.
In October 2021, the ICJ divided the disputed area of 100,000 square kilometres in favour of Somalia, dividing the coveted area is rich in oil, gas and fisheries roughly in half.
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However, then Somalia President Mohamed Farmaajo welcomed the ruling and asked Kenya to respect it, while then Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said his country rejects the judgment in its totality and does not recognise its findings.
“This decision is, in the circumstances, a zero- sum game, which will strain the relations between the two countries. It will also reverse the social, political and economic gains; and potentially aggravate the peace and security situation in the fragile Horn of Africa region,” Uhuru said in the US, where he was attending a meeting at the UN.
Uhuru called on the international community to create an enabling environment for a negotiated settlement.
However, he did not rule out other means of protecting Kenya’s maritime territory.
“Kenya, like other independent countries, possesses a determined geographical territory. As a devoted member of the UN, the UN Security Council as well as the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, we beseech the rest of the family of nations to appreciate and respect our inherent right to protect, by all available means, our territory,” the President said.
“… when I became President on 9 April 2013, I took an oath to protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Kenya. I do not intend to abrogate my solemn oath.
“I will do everything possible as President and Commander-in-Chief to preserve the territory of this our great Republic and bequeath the same, intact and unencumbered, to the next President when my term expires in less than a year,” he said.
While the approach has not been made public, President Ruto seems to opt for negotiations amidst an unstable Horn of Africa.
Farmaajo dashes Kenya’s hopes for negotiations over maritime dispute
