Kenya pulls out of maritime case hearing

The dispute over the border in the Indian Ocean between Kenya and Somalia which has been running since 2014 has resulted in diplomatic tension between the two Horn of Africa countries.

News Keydmedia Online
14 March 2021

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya has on Sunday announced a surprise decision on maritime border dispute with Somalia ahead of Monday’s hearing by the international court of justice [ICJ].

The office of the attorney general of Kenya has said in a statement dated March 11 that Nairobi notified ICJ that it will not attend the scheduled hearing, citing a Somali judge is involved in the case.

Judge Abdulqawi Yusuf, a Somali national was President of the Court until February this year. Kenya’s decision came after ICJ has rejected its request for a fourth adjournment.

The dispute over the border in the Indian Ocean between Kenya and Somalia which has been running since 2014 has resulted in diplomatic tension between the two Horn of Africa countries.

The reasons Kenya wants the case postponed include Covid-19 and lack of a functional government in Somalia at the moment after the current terms of both Parliament and President Farmajo expired.

Kenya and Somalia in deadlock over the ownership of a 150,000 square-kilometer area off their Indian Ocean coastline, which both countries want to explore for oil, gas, and fish.

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