By HASSAN YUUSUFWAAL
The Indian Ocean maritime
boundary dispute between Somalia and Kenya has reached a new level of
intensity. While Somalia is holding out an olive branch to de-escalate the spat
Kenya has actually added fuel to the fire.
On February, 17 2019, Kenya
expelled Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya and recalled its ambassador to
Mogadishu. On May 21 2019 Kenya detained and confiscated the passports of
Somali ministers and MPs who were entering in Kenya. On May 29, 2019 Kenya
banned cargo goods from Somalia and ordered all the planes from Somalia to be
diverted to Wajir county airport for security checks.
The motive behind Kenya’s
unfortunate actions is to pressure Somalia to abandon a case submitted to
International Court of Justice by Somalia. In 2014 Somalia took the matter to
ICJ to settle maritime dispute between her and its neighbour after several
attempts of alternative dispute resolution had failed.
According to an article
published by Reuters Kenya has already granted hydrocarbon exploration and
exploitation rights to many companies including Tullow, Erin Energy, FAR and
Dominion in the Indian Ocean disputed area. Kenya knows what she did is illegal
and that ICJ will highly likely rule in favour of Somalia. Therefore Kenya is
desperately trying that Somalia withdraws its case at the ICJ.
Kenya’s maximum pressure
strategy has so far failed as Somalia is not giving in to the pressure. Kenya
has still some weapons at its disposal to hit hard Somalia at least in the
short term including a closure of Dadaab refugee camp and a kick out of Somali
investors- a risky scenario though that could backfire. Kenya benefits
massively from both the largest refugee camp in the world and the investment of
Somali business community. So what is Kenya’s next move ahead of ICJ ruling
scheduled for September 2019?
As some surveys carried out
suggest there are deposits of oil and gas in the maritime disputed area between
Somalia and Kenya. Hence Kenya had long planned since the early 2000s to invade
and capture the strategic port city of Kismayo-the capital city of Jubaland
state of Somalia. In January 2010 According to Wikileaks Kenya’s former Foreign
Minister, Moses Wetangula requested the USA government to help Kenya to invade
in Somalia in order to create Jubaland state. Washington however was not
enthusiastic about the idea and refused Kenya’s request to invade in Somalia.
In October 2011, according
to Kenya, they invaded into Somalia to create a buffer zone to protect its
territory from Al-shabaab. But the main objective of Kenya’s invasion in
Jubaland was a military strategy of control and influence and the creation of a
quasi independent state- a political entity that undermines Villa Somalia.
Kenya helped the former Al-shabaab ally leader Ahmed Madobe to become the
president of Jubaland state.
Kenya defied UN Security
Council Resolution 1725 of 2006 that endorses the specification in the IGAD
Deployment Plan that those States that border Somalia would not deploy troops
to Somalia (although later they became part of African Union Mission).
Moreover, the then president of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed described the Kenya’s invasion as illegal.
Kenya will fight its corner
to stay in Jubaland. Kenya is spending millions of dollars and military force
if necessary to influence the upcoming Jubaland state election in August. Peter
Kagwanja -former Kenyan government adviser and currently Chief Executive of
Africa Policy institute (Kenya) wrote recently in The Daily Nation “The
Kenya-Somalia diplomatic meltdown over a disputed maritime border in the Indian
Ocean and unfolding geopolitical alignments ahead of the coming state
presidential election in Jubaland in Southern Somalia in August 2019 are
unveiling the ugly contours of a new policy of containment of Kenya’s power and
influence by an emerging regional alliance in the Horn of Africa. Kenya and its
rivals will meet their Waterloo in the Jubaland election in August”.
It is mind-boggling! When
did Jubaland become a Kenyan territory? 56 years on Somalis still feel the
painful injustice of giving part of their country known as NFD (Northern
Frontier District) to Kenya by the colonial British. And ironically in 21st
century Kenya has the audacity to annex part of Somalia.
Kenya’s presence in Somalia
is detrimental to the sovereignty and the unity of Somalia. Kenyan troops in
Somalia are barely stationed in two places i.e. the port and the airport of
Kismayo. The Al-Shabaab militants control much of the Jubaland including the
outskirts of Kismayo. Kenyan troops are not there to defeat Al-Shabaab. They
are there to defend Kenyan’s controversial interest of Somalia’s territorial
waters. Several sources prove that Kenyan troops have been involved in illegal
trade of charcoal- a very important income for Al-Shabaab.
Additionally, Kenya meddles
in domestic political issues of Somalia. Therefore it is time to end the
relentless aggression of Kenya against Somalia. The government of Somalia
should take drastic steps to firstly remove Kenyan troops from Somalia.
Hassan Yuusufwaal is an
activist, freelance writer and documentary maker based in UK.
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