Liban Hassan
12 OCT 2021 – The Hague.
After many years of wrangling between the two neighboring states, the International Court of Justices has finally demarcated their common maritime boundary.
Today at 3pm CET the International Court of Justice based in The Hague, has finally reached its verdict for the maritime case between Somalia and Kenya.
Originally the maritime case between Somalia and Kenya was bought to the ICJ in 2014 by Somalia after the two neighbouring States could not agree on their common maritime boundary, with Kenya claiming the boundary should run parallel from the point of their common land border whilst Somalia was advocating that it should run in a South Easterly direction.
The case has been a contentious issue between Kenya, which has been plagued by several delays over the past seven years latterly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The area concerned is a 100,000 sq km triangle in the Indian Ocean that is thought to be rich in oil and gas, which will be a game changer for the region’s economies.
Kenya, which did secure some territory beyond the Somalia proposal, had failed to prove there was an established sea boundary between the states, with the court stating it “unanimously finds that there is no agreed maritime boundary between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya that follows that parallel of latitude.”
The panel of 14 judges, which their attendance were a mixture of of both in person and remote attendance, has drawn a new demarcation line which awarded almost 92 per cent of the disputed area to Somalia and the remaining area to Kenya.
The judgement comes amid Kenya’s refusal to accepting the ruling, having revoked recognition of the courts jurisdiction. No one from Kenya attended the court either in person or via video link.