NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has rejected a ruling by the International Court of Justice that gave Somalia a large chunk of territory in a maritime border dispute.
Kenya said while it is not surprised at the decision, it is profoundly concerned by the impact of the decision and its implications for the Horn of Africa region, and international law generally.
“At the outset, Kenya wishes to indicate that it rejects in totality and does not recognize the findings in the decision,” Kenyatta said in a statement.
The Kenyan leader said he will not, in the aftermath of the court’s decision “intend to abrogate my solemn oath; and, I will do everything possible as President and Commander-in-Chief, to preserve the territory of this our great Republic and bequeath the same, intact and unencumbered.”
The decision, he argued, embodies “a perpetuation of the ICJ’s jurisdictional overreach and raises a fundamental question on the respect of the sovereignty and consent of States” to international judicial processes. “In fact, Kenya doubts that any State would have appeared at all in a case such as this.”
Meanwhile, Somali president Farmaajo welcomed the rule of UN’s top court in a bitter border dispute between Somalia and Kenya, urging the leaders of Kenya to “respect the international rule of law.”
In a televised speech following the ruling, Farmaajo, said Nairobi should “see the decision of the court as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship of the two countries”.
President Farmajo blasted the Kenyan government for years of political interference aimed at disrupting the case.
“Ever since I was elected as your president, we have faced multiple political, security, financial and diplomatic challenges. These were attempts by the Kenyan leadership to divert the Somali people and their government from their decision to deliberate this case only at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” Farmaajo.
The leader accused of Kenyan government of waging “a military campaign violating our nation’s sovereignty and the public interest of the Somali people”.
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