Somalia, Kenya to resolve maritime dispute at ICJ after case submitted

GAROWE, Somalia, July 13, 2015 (Garowe Online)-As Kenya gears up for offshore oil and gas exploration, Somalia has officially submitted maritime lawsuit case to United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday, Garowe Online reports.

The oil-rich territorial waters have been a bone of contention, with Somalia seeking Hague court to have a final say on the matter after at least three years of hearings from March, 2016.

Accompanied by international and Somali experts, Dahir Sunday told VOA Somali Service that he will hand over a 150-page document to ICJ, dashing hopes of bilateral consensus by Somalia and Kenya on maritime dispute.

Foreign Affairs cabinet secretary Amina Mohamed told Kenyan MPs a few months ago that Somalia will withdraw maritime boundary lawsuit.

However, in a cabinet meeting Somalia government stressed that they are instead confident of Hague court ruling.

“[We] have been working on this lawsuit for two years; I would like Somalis to put trust in their government and those representing them in Hague hearing,” Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir unveiled, adding that they are hopeful about a ruling in favor of Somalia.

Kenya claims that ocean stretch where over five companies are prospecting for oil and gas lies in international waters-something Somalia denies groundless.

In September 2014, Jubaland Fisheries Minister Abdullahi Sheikh Shafici voiced opposition to the lawsuit filed against Kenya at International Court of Justice.

“Jubaland wouldn’t voice support for the seizure of Somali land but we are not sure the purported Somali territorial waters to which Kenya laid claims. Particularly that [Kenya] assumed ownership over [40,000 square miles of waters] off Raas Kaambooni and Badhaade coasts,” said Shafici in an interview with Garowe Online.

The judicial measure may be risking diplomatic row as Kenyan officials describe Somalia’s move ‘sensitive’, analysts suggested.

On August 28, 2014, the top UN court disclosed that Somalia government wants maritime boundary dividing areas appertaining to Somalia and to Kenya in Indian Ocean be determined on international basis.

Both countries disputed the ownership of triangular ocean territory which occupies over 100,000 square kilometers.

Kenyan forces crossed the border into Somalia to battle Al Shabaab militants in 2011. Contingents from the neighboring country are currently serving with African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). 

GAROWE ONLINE