Somalia insists on facing Kenya at ICJ over Indian Ocean maritime dispute in June

MOGADISHU - Somalia will not postpone the impending Indian Ocean maritime border dispute at the International Court of Justice, a top official said on Friday, with reports indicating that Kenya is keen to have the matter settled out of court.

For the first time, the two countries will battle in court this June after efforts to refrain their extreme actions failed, a move that both Nairobi and Mogadishu have religiously insisted that will not "affect normal operations" in coming days.

Mahdi Guled, the Somali Deputy Prime Minister, said the case will proceed as scheduled in June, revealing that submissions will be done virtually due to the raging Coronavirus pandemic which has almost grounded activities globally.

The federal government of Somalia, he noted, is not interested in calls to have the matter postponed, arguing that "we shall proceed based on the current situation as long as the matter is heard as planned" in previous documentation.

"The federal government of Somalia insists on the decision not to postpone even a single day the hearing of the maritime case that will be conducted as virtual," Guled said, in reference to statements that Nairobi is of the opinion that the matter is postponed.

Mogadishu is said to have received a formal request from Nairobi to have the matter delayed a bit to give room for "a friendly settlement". It's not clear who is pushing the postponement claims from Kenya, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the relations.

Until now, Nairobi is yet to respond to claims of postponement but a senior official from the ministry hinted to Garowe Online that "we are friendly nations, there is nothing wrong to explore alternative dispute resolutions".

Last year, Kenya had its postponement request admitted by ICJ twice, but the Hague based institutions insisted that "no more postponement will be tolerated, both parties must expeditiously file their submissions by June".

The border dispute emanated first in 2014 but efforts by Somalia to have it solved on friendly grounds were futile in what a report filed by authorities in Kenya blamed "sluggishness" in the office of the Attorney General who treated the matter as "minor issue".

But the situation would escalate in March 2019 when Somalia announced a bid to auction several oil blocks, forcing Kenya to impose sanctions on Mogadishu, among them closing of embassies to the respective Nations and suspension of international flights.

An attempt by the African Union to reconcile the two nations failed to materialize after Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declined an offer from his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta at the United Nations Assembly in New York for out of court settlement in September.

In November 2019, Farmajo, who visited Kenya, hailed Uhuru for "normalizing" relationship between the two nations but insisted that Somalia "is comfortable with the court as an arbiter, we shall strictly work with it" in his statement after the meeting.

On his part, Uhuru underscored the importance to allow dialogue on "issues affecting our nations" while insisting on Kenya's "honest" efforts to enable Somalia to restore normalcy by beefing up security.

With just three weeks before the commencement of the matter, it's unclear if Somalia will eventually yield to relentless pressure from Kenya, which is keen with a locally engineered agreement, to settle the long-standing dispute which threatens diplomatic ties.

Early this week, Somalia announced bids for offshore oil blocks, although the minister for natural resources, Ahmed Mohamed, had previously insisted that "our oil deposits are not among those disputed by Kenya" during a summit in South Africa.

The oil deposits, he noted, "will help revamp our economy by providing jobs to impoverished locals". Already, ExxonMobil and Shell have paid $1.7 million for leasing of five blocks for three decades, in what could be Somalia's positive turning point.

The maritime case also comes at the time Kenya and Somalia are embroiled in the tussle over the control of Jubaland, which is used by Nairobi as a buffer zone in the fight against Al-Shabaab.

The two leaders called for a ceasefire in Gedo recently after Jubaland forces clashed with federal troops.

GAROWE ONLINE