The Hague, the Netherlands on Monday, March 15, 2021, is set to hear the maritime dispute between Somalia and Kenya.
Lawyers representing Somalia will today present their arguments on the maritime dispute, and are in the final stages of preparation. Somali citizens have been standing in front of the courthouse for hours, optimistic about the outcome of the ICJ.
A Somali Times reporter asks the Somali national living in the Netherlands to be optimistic and praying,” said a Somalis. Somalia delegation entering the trial, led by Deputy Prime Minister of the Mahdi Mohamed Guled has called our nation to stand by Somalia’s government.
Kenya’s legal team is understood to want to brief the ICJ for 30 minutes on Monday before the hearing officially starts.
Somalia launched legal proceedings against Kenya at the international court based in The Hague in August 2014 after failing to settle the issue through diplomatic channels. Kenya questioned whether the court had jurisdiction to hear the case, pointing to the 2009 MOU.
The corrupted former Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Somali prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke then 2009 MOU signed Minister for National Planning and International Cooperation, Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame. The court international court of justice, which ruled out 2009 MOU.
The court rejected that claim and ruled in June 2019 that the court was within its legal rights to adjudicate the case. Since then, the issue has been delayed and postponed several times at Kenya’s request.