Somalia maritime row talks with Kenya have failed, Farmajo tells UN Assembly

Somali President Mohamed Farmajo on Thursday announced that the maritime row talks with Kenya have failed.

Speaking during his address at the UN Assembly, Farmajo added that the matter will now be handled by the International Court of Justice.

On June 28 this year, 20 petitioners moved to court seeking to stop Kenya from taking part in the maritime delimitation case filed at the International Court of Justice.

This was just two days after the ICJ said parties in the case will appear for submissions on September 3 this year.

According to the petitioners, if Kenya is allowed to participate, it has the potential of permitting an unconstitutional alteration of its boundaries.

“The petitioners are apprehensive that unless this application is certified urgent and determined expeditiously, the respondents will continue acting in contravention to the constitution by filing submissions and otherwise participating in the proceedings in the maritime delimitation in the Indian ocean (Somali vs Kenya) with the potential of permitting an unconstitutional alteration of Kenya’s boundaries, thereby rendering the petition herein nugatory,” read court papers.

This pending the hearing of the Somalia vs Kenya dispute before the International Court of Justice.

The territory in question is a 100,000 square kilometer (38,610 square mile) triangular patch created by projecting the Kenya-Somalia border eastward into the Indian Ocean.

The area however supposedly has a large deposit of oil and gas.

In 2014, Somalia sued Kenya at the ICJ in the Hague, urging the court to define the boundary as laid down by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and other international sea laws.