麻豆约拍

Kenya has rejected a ruling by the top UN court on its border dispute with Somalia. The International Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that most the disputed area off the coast of both countries belonged to Somalia. The area is believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits. So where does this ruling leave the boundary dispute since one of the parties is rejecting it?

Rashid Abdi is an analyst specialising on the Horn of Africa who sees Kenya as the only 鈥渁nchor state鈥� on the Horn able to stabilise regional conflict situations.

鈥淜enya had pulled out of the court process months ago鈥�(accusing) the court judges of bias. But clearly Kenya鈥檚 position was shaky because there was precedent for this type of ruling where maritime border divination follows an equidistant line rather than a straight parallel line as Kenya had argued.鈥�

鈥淏ut there is still a solution if there is a will. Somalia doesn鈥檛 have a navy and cannot project force to protect what it perceives as its territorial waters. Kenya does have a navy and, if it wants, can claim this territory and exploit the oil and gas there. Also Kenya has a stake in Somalia鈥檚 stability. The dynamics on both sides indicates the only way out is a negotiated settlement. There is a vested international interest in seeing the conflict does not escalate.鈥�

(Pic: Map of disputed territorial waters claimed by Kenya and Somalia; Credit: 麻豆约拍)

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