Somalia wants the court to demarcate the maritime boundary, and to determine the exact geographical coordinates as an extension of its southeastern land borders.
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But Kenya wants it to go in a straight line stretching directly east from the coast, along the line of latitude.
Kenya’s legal representatives told the ICJ judges they had a valid agreement with Somalia on settling the boundary dispute and objected the court hearing of Somalia’s case, arguing that the MoU was approved by the then TFG President, Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers of Somalia. The country has awarded licenses to foreign companies including Italy’s Eni, France’s Total and the US’s Anadarko Petroleum to prospect for oil in the disputed area, a move that has incensed the Somali government.
Human rights activists have called on International Criminal Court (ICC) member states to address an issue highlighted by ICC judges who, on 19 September, reported Kenya for not cooperating in the case against Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kenya’s “non-cooperation has prevented the court from exercising its functions and powers under the Statute”, they said. “Such accusations are absurd and hurtful”.
Somalia had only turned to the ICJ after years of “hard, and at times heated” negotiations with Kenya proved to be “to no avail”, she said.
The dismissal of a crimes against humanity case against Kenya’s vice-president William Ruto and his co-accused journalist Joshua Arap Sang in April 2016 was a big blow to the ICC, after the trial was marred by bribery and threats.
At the heart of the dispute is how to draw the line of the sea boundary.
Somalia claims the 2009 agreement did not bar it from exploring alternative ways of resolving the deadlock.
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Provided there’s no escalation of tensions between Kenya and Somalia, Walker says, “in the long term, this case is part of an overall process of moving towards wealthier, secure and cooperative African maritime states”.
