Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister is hoping for a ‘happy’ outcome in the maritime case
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia, Mahdi Mohamed Guled, said on Tuesday that he hoped the outcome of the maritime dispute between Kenya and Somalia, which is currently before The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), would be “a source of joy for all Somalis.”
“I hereby declare to the Somali people that the government and the people of Somalia are united in defending Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and I hope that the result will be a source of joy for all Somalis,” he said.
It said the Deputy Prime Minister after the first phase of oral debate on the maritime dispute between the two countries ended on Tuesday.
The ICJ will decide the next procedure in the case, as Kenya did not participate in the hearings.
Kenya announced that it would no longer participate in the case, citing what it perceives as “a bias and unwillingness on the part of the court to grant requests to delay the hearings following the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The dispute between Kenya and Somalia is over which direction the two countries’ border extends into the Indian Ocean.
Somalia argues that the maritime border should continue in the same direction as the southeastern border of the land border. While Kenya insists that the border should take a 45 degree turn at the shoreline and run in a latitude.
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