NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – The government of Kenya has summoned its Somalia ambassador, General Lucas Tumbo for urgent consultation over alleged “oil auctioning by the Somali government.”
Nairobi has also ordered Somali envoy Mohamud Ahmed Nur to leave the country.
In a statement issued Saturday evening, the Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, Macharia Kamau accused Somalia of alleged auctioning of oil blocs belonging to Kenya.
“This unparalleled affront and illegal grab at the resources of Kenya will not go unanswered and is tantamount to an act of aggression against the people of Kenya and their resources, ” the PS said.
“This outrageous and provocative auction deserves and will be met with a unanimous and resounding rejection by all Kenyans as well as all people of goodwill who believe in the maintenance of international law and order and the peaceful and legal resolution of disputes.”
Last week, Somali government showcased data illustrating the legal and regulatory framework as well as the oil block gained through the insight of 2D seismic data during the conference in London on 7 February.
According to sources privy to last week’s conference in London, the 2D seismic data table by Somali government didn’t include the disputed maritime territorial borders.
Kenya had been struggling to convince Somalia to look for an alternative method of resolving the matter through bilateral dialogue which Somali government turns down.
Analysts say that the Kenyan government has hidden agenda to mess up the ongoing dispute case over a maritime boundary which was filed by Somalia at the International Court of Justice in 2014.
Late 2017, Somalia won its first bid to resolve a case over a maritime dispute before the ICJ.
Judges at the ICJ dismissed claims fronted by Kenya’s lawyers that there exists an alternative method of resolving the matter.
Somalia wants the court to demarcate the maritime boundary, and to determine the exact geographical coordinates as an extension of its southern borders.
Kenya, on the other hand, wants the border to run in parallel along the line of latitude on its eastern border. That gives Kenya a larger share of the maritime area, and it had already sold mining licenses to international companies.
At stake is the potentially lucrative narrow triangular stretch of 100,000 square kilometres of offshore territory believed to contain vast oil and gas deposits.
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