We Shall Not Entertain Anyone Laying Claim on our Country- Kenya to Somalia

The media will tell you that there is a “maritime dispute” between Kenya and Somalia but what they are not telling you is that there is an attempt by Somalia to want to take over part of Kenya’s territorial waters.

Some leaders, especially those of Somali origin, who were born and live in Kenya, seem to have sided with Somalia, getting the arguments completely out of context. One wonders if truly they are Kenyans and if they understand what patriotism is all about.

History always has facts and it always judges. Looking at existing historical facts, Somalia, a country that was stateless for 20 years, and only got liberated thanks to Kenya, wants to claim part of Kenya through eliciting emotions and sympathy.

The area under dispute is a narrow triangle off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, about 100,000 square kilometers or 62,000 square miles. Somalia says this is her territory and wants Kenya to vacate.

In 2014, Somalia sued Kenya at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking the court’s assistance in settling the dispute.

Somalia seems to have overlooked all aspects of conflict resolution. According to Somalia, ICJ is the only body better placed to resolve the issue. But is it? The big question is, does Somalia have facts in her push to take over part of Kenya?

Read: Not An Inch Less, Kenya’s Clear Message to Somalia

Did Somalia try to table the case before the African Union? What about the East African Community? What about IGAD? Did the government of Somalia try these bodies and see whether the matter was beyond them.

Does Somalia know that the determination of the Kenya and Somalia boundary happened in 1924? In fact, the final border points were issued in 1933. These are facts that are documented and some Somali leaders in Kenya should stop running around like loose cannons and headless chicken.

Kenya has no claim over Somalia. Kenya has no business claiming Somalia. If anything, they should be grateful that was it not for Kenya, they would still be under the merciless terror of Al-Shabaab. As Kenyans, we appreciate our neighbors but that should not be interpreted to mean that we shall also just sit back and watch some state lay claims on our territories.

Am not a staunch supporter of the current government but on the issue of Kenya-Somalia maritime dispute, my country Kenya is right. Somalia wants to capitalize on global sympathy, making the world think that Kenya is taking advantage because Somalia is ‘young, volatile and still trying to stand alone’. That is blackmail that seems not to be working.

Another thing that Somalia and their seemingly clueless leaders don’t know is that there exist 29 identifiable border points, from a tri-point with Ethiopia on River Dawa in Mandera County to the Indian Ocean at Ishakani in Lamu County. They don’t know this fact and they don’t want to know about it. They are used to jungle law and think it applies in a civilized world.

The current leaders of Somalia should learn from their predecessors. They even don’t know that their leader then, General Siad Barre denounced the territorial claims on Kenya through a declaration at the 1981 OAU’s Heads of State Summit. Do they even know that this declaration exists?