“The memorandum therefore does not establish the
maritime boundary between Kenya and Somalia; it only
leaves the matter of delimiting the boundary to the
future when Somalia will be ready to undertake the
exercise with Kenya,” .....
Kenya dismisses Somali politicians claims
BY LABAN
WANAMBISIApril 22, 2009
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 22 - The government on Wednesday dismissed as
unfounded allegations by a section of Somali politicians that Kenya is trying to
acquire Somali territory through the signing of the Maritime Boundary Agreement.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that the memorandum
of understanding signed in Nairobi on April 7 between Kenya and the Transitional
Federal Government of Somalia does not establish a maritime boundary.
“The memorandum therefore does not establish the maritime boundary between Kenya
and Somalia; it only leaves the matter of delimiting the boundary to the future
when Somalia will be ready to undertake the exercise with Kenya,” read the
statement.
Paul Ndungu, an aide to Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Thuita Mwangi has
explained that through the MOU the states are granting each other the
No-Objection with respect to submissions on the outer limits of the continental
shelf.
“The claims must be submitted by 13 May, 2009,” he said. “The CLCS requires
states that have adjacent coastlines to each other to conclude agreements on the
delimitation of their maritime boundaries”.
“The Memorandum solely wishes to facilitate the presentation of submissions to
the CLCS and does not in any way prejudice future delimitation of submissions to
the commission before the scheduled deadline of May 13,” read the statement.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal states
intending to define the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond the 200
nautical miles are required to submit scientific and technical data to the
Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf (CLCS).
The government has said that this does not affect future delimitation of the
maritime boundary in the un-surveyed area, and shall be agreed between the
countries after the commission examines the separate submissions to be made
before May 13.
The preparation of Kenya's claim for submission requires the cooperation of
its neighbours Tanzania and Somalia.
This is because, UNCLOS provides that states that have adjacent coastlines to
each other need to conclude agreements on the delimitation of their maritime
boundaries for their Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental
Shelves by means of an agreement in order to achieve an equitable solution.