NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 25 – Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has renewed calls for dialogue to resolve a maritime dispute with Somalia over a contested maritime economic zone following a trilateral meeting convened by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi who doubles up as Chairperson of the African Union (AU).
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali counterpart, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo), met on the sidelines on the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Tuesday night, in a meeting facilitated by Al Sisi.
The Foreign Office said following the meeting Kenya will continue to advocate for negotiations to resolve the dispute over offshore oil blocs located within a 62,000 square miles oil-rich triangle in the Indian Ocean.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma termed negotiations as the best framework for finding solutions to challenges facing the continent.
“Kenya welcomes this first meeting, which is a step in the right direction. Kenya has always believed in and continues to call for negotiations as the best framework for finding African solutions for African problems,” CS Juma tweeted on Wednesday.
Somalia’s Director of Presidential Communications however said the trilateral meeting has no implications to a maritime delimitation dispute –filed on August 28, 2014 – pending at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and which is slated for oral submissions from November 4.
Abdinur Mohamed, said Somalia is committed to normalizing relations with Kenya and building a strong neighbourly bond.
“Somalia and Kenya have agreed to work towards normalizing relations without any implications for the maritime case at the ICJ which will take its full course after Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi convened a tripartite meeting on the margins of UNGA,” Mohamed tweeted.
“Strong neighbourly relations are important for the stability, economic development and people to people relations. Somalia welcomes the opportunity to work towards normalizing relations with Kenya, as neighbours and partners, for a better common future,” he added.
Relations between Kenya and Somalia soured in mid-February after Nairobi accused Mogadishu of illegally offering oil blocks in the disputed territory at a prospectors’ auction in London on February 7.
MFA in an unprecedented move then recalled its diplomat in Mogadishu, Lt. General (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo, for what Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau termed as “urgent consultations”.
The Foreign Office also referred the Somali envoy, Ahmed Nur, to Mogadishu but denied claims that the move amounted to expelling the diplomat over simmering tension.
PS Kamau during a news conference on February 16 accused Somalia of unilaterally selling off oil and gas blocks in the disputed maritime territory at a London auction on February 7 terming the move “unparalleled affront on Kenya” adding the “illegal grab” will not go unanswered.
“This outrageous and provocative auction deserves and will be met with a unanimous and resounding rejection by all Kenyans as well as all people of goodwill who believe in the maintenance of international law and order and the peaceful and legal resolution of disputes,” Kamau said.
Kenya accused Somalia of violating international norms and the cordial relations between the two countries by filing a suit at the ICJ disregarding an active mediation process.
The State Law Office unsuccessfully challenged the admissibility of Somali’s case in 2016 after the court in February 2017 dismissed Kenya’s objection to the case which was premised on lack of jurisdiction.
ICJ published a schedule for oral submissions on June 25 setting the dates for verbal pleadings from September 9 to September 13.
The court on September 3 revised the schedule setting November 4 as the commencement date for oral submissions.
The talks mediated by Al Sisi on Tuesday came barely a month after the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC) tasked the AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki with reactivation of engagements between Kenya and Somalia in a bid to resolve the maritime boundary dispute between the two nations.
READ : AU Security Council calls for Kenya-Somalia dialogue to resolve sea row
The resolution made on September 5 at the end of the 873rd Council meeting in Addis Ababa where Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the AU, Amb Catherine Mwangi, and Somali’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdulkadir Ahmed-Kheir Abdi, made presentations on the dispute.
“The AU-PSC requests the Chairperson of the AU Commission to urgently make use of his good offices, either personally or through the appointment of a special envoy to engage with the parties towards finding an amicable and sustainable settlement, in consultation and collaboration with the relevant regional mechanisms,” a communique issued at the end of the Council meeting read in part.
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