Will Presidents Uhuru And Farmaajo Meeting Resolve Maritime Dispute?

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Somalia President Mohamed Farmaajo at the sidelines of the just-concluded International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD 25) met to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

The two leaders met yesterday, 14^th November 2019, at a Nairobi hotel to discuss the importance of good relations between their countries despite the ongoing maritime border dispute that is at the International Court of Justice.

To start off the normalization of bilateral relations, Presidents Uhuru and Farmaajo announced the restoration of travel visas on arrival for citizens of both countries, and the restoration of direct flights from Mogadishu to Nairobi in a week.

Present at the meeting was Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Monica Juma, who said that the two presidents were determined to see that nothing gets between the good relationship between Kenya and Somalia.

“The two presidents are committed to do everything to ensure good relations, and have started by restoration of visas on arrival so that citizens are encouraged to move to either country,” said CS Juma.

Their meeting comes after president Farmaajo rejected President Uhuru’s calls on dialogue over the disputed maritime boundary during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that was taking place at the UN headquarters in New York City in September.

The two presidents met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is also the AU chairman in a sideline meeting, which they said was a step towards achieving normalcy for Kenya and Somalia, and while Uhuru campaigned for dialogue on the maritime issue, Somalia’s president remained adamant that the issue should be left to the ICJ to decide.

The case has since been postponed twice this year, in what is seen as a move by the Kenyan government to buy time to finally allow for an out of court settlement.

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