Highlights
- Kenya has said that the coastal boundary case filed by Somalia at the International Court of Justice is invalid.
- Attorney-General Githu Muigai said October 2015 that Mogadishu’s contest to have Kenya-Somalia coastal boundaries adjusted is invalid. He presented the statement in preliminary objections filed to the ICJ.
- Prof Muigai said that Somalia’s decision to proceed with the case at the Hague will be a clear violation of an earlier agreement to resolve the dipute at a Memorandum of Understanding level.
Background
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard a string of hearings of the maritime border dispute between Kenya and Somalia in September 2014 in a case in which Somalia had accused Kenya of encroaching at its territories at the Indian Ocean.
In response to the accusation, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta met the Somali president in New York in the presence of United Nations General Assembly and reached a MoU to resolve the maritime border dispute.
The area in contest is about 100,000 square kilometres, forming a triangle east of the Kenya coast.
In 2009, Kenya and Somalia reached a MoU, which was then deposited to the UN in 2011.
Forecast
Kenya hopes to win in her argument at the ICJ to have her maritime dispute with Somalia settled amicably under international law as earlier agreed between the two countries.
If Kenya’s case argument fails to gain ground at ICJ, relationships between the two countries would be strained. Kenya is currently working with Somalia to restore security in the East African region by battling out Somali based Harakat Al Shabaab Al Mujahideen.
Additionally, if Somalia gets an upper hand in the whole saga, a big chunk at Kenya’s border with Somalia will go to Somalia. This could have far stretched effects at cross national border as Kenya’s relationship with Tanzania will also be at stake.
The case threatens to alter the Tanzanian maritime border with Kenya. The Island of Pemba would automatically find itself in Kenya if the ICJ rules in favor of Somalia in the suit, although Kenya and Tanzania have filed a memorandum with the UN, agreeing on their maritime boundaries.
