ICJ rejects Kenya’s bid, says it will hear dispute over ocean boundary
Feb. 03, 2017, 1:00 am
By DAVID MWERE
@davidmwere
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The UN’s highest court yesterday ruled against Kenya, saying The Hague-based tribunal has the authority to adjudicate a maritime boundary dispute with Somalia.
At stake are vast stretches of the Indian Ocean, rich in oil and gas deposits.
Siding with Somalia, the International Court of Justice rejected Kenya’s argument that existing agreements between the two countries amounted to a commitment to settle their boundary disputes outside the court.
The ruling means a boundary case brought by Somalia against Kenya can continue, a process that may take years.
Kenya, through attorney general Githu Muigai, had filed two objections that the case filed by Somalia in 2014 be dismissed based on grounds that the ICJ has no jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The other objection filed by the Kenyan government banked on the existing Memorandum of Understanding entered between the two countries in 2009 and deposited at the United Nations in 2011 after the matter arose.
However, Judge Ronny Abraham, the court’s president, dismissed the two applications setting the stage for the full hearing that is likely to take years before it is fully determined.
The ruling is a blow to Kenya that had argued because the country is committed to solving the dispute peacefully, the case should not proceed to full trial.
Kenya had also argued that the existing MoU between the two neighbouring countries be the determinant of how the matter proceeds.
The attorney general had argued that the court should only come in if the negotiations based on the MoU fail to bring any solution on the table.
Muigai led delegation of Kenya’s legal team to The Hague-based court to defend the Kenyan case in which the government sought to have Somalia’s application thrown out.
The ruling now means that Kenya will have to file a response to the dispute before the hearing starts.
The other members of Kenya’s legal team included Ambassador Makena Muchiri, High Commissioner to the Netherlands Justa Nkoroi, who is the head of Kenya’s International Boundaries Office; and Njeri Wachira, the head of international law division at the attorney general’s chambers.