Kenya, Somalia seek to solve territorial dispute

Thursday, 4th June 2009

By Ally Jamah

Kenya and war-torn Somalia have locked horns over a large swathe of territory in the Indian Ocean.

This controversy emerged as the two countries submitted maps to the UN showing the extent of their maritime frontiers as recommended by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Like much of Kenyan borders, the boundary between Kenya and Somalia in the Indian Ocean has not been officially demarcated yet.

The latest disagreement hints at future boundary disputes as Kenya prepares to start demarcating land and sea borders.

Full demarcation

Only the Kenya-Ethiopia boundary has been demarcated fully.

The maritime maps submitted by Kenya and Somalia to the UN includes the vast sea territory that both countries claim, stretching for 350km at the widest point.

Kenya submitted maps on May 6 and Somalia on May 13. The UN is expected to make a binding decision in September.

But the decision will only affect the outer limits of territorial waters, which both countries seek to extend into the sea.

It will be up to Kenyan and Somali maritime officials to determine where the dividing line between the two countries lies, opening a potential flash point like the one in Migingo Island claimed by Uganda and Kenya.

An agreement on the maritime border between the two countries reads in part: "The delimitation of the continental shelf between the Republic of Kenya and the Somali Republic has not yet been settled. This unresolved delimitation is to be considered a maritime dispute."

But Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula denied there was a dispute between the two countries.

"There is no dispute whatsoever between us and Somalia. The MoU was signed in good faith in the interests of both countries," he said yesterday after a meeting with visiting Somalia Prime Minister Omar Ali Sharmarke.