Kenya protest against the jurisdiction by ICJ over the maritime dispute with Somalia

The Leader of the Majority Party Aden Duale and Leader of the Minority Party John Mbadi have today submitted a motion to the parliament of their 12TH meeting of 3rd parliament session to engage with the Federal government of Somalia to resolve the boundary dispute for the benefit of both countries and the region, through diplomacy and dispute resolution mechanisms available under African Union (AU), Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and East African Community (EAC).

According to the motion statement, Kenya expresses to the United Nations that the Republic of Kenya’s protest against the assertion of jurisdiction by the International Court of Justice over the maritime 4 boundary conflict between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya.

“Kenya’s express reservation to jurisdiction made in 1965 and the provisions of Kenya’s Maritime Zones Act to delimit the maritime boundary through the agreement as envisaged by UNCLOS,” reads the statement.

The statement also reads apart that the federal government of Somalia having not raised any objection with the boundary as established until 2014, claiming a part of Kenya’s maritime zone, by filing a case against Kenya at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) without giving an opportunity to negotiated settlement or any other alternative dispute resolution mechanism including negotiations as provided for under UNCLOS of which both the Republic of Kenya and the Federal Republic of Somalia are signatories.

In constitutional mechanisms, Kenya is ready to protect its territory, including deploying the Kenya Defence Forces to the subject boundary to undertake the responsibility of protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic as contemplated under Article 241(3) of the Constitution.

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