NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – Somalis in Kenya have been warned against celebrating the ICJ verdict over Sonalia-Kenya maritime border dispute as the top UN court is expected to rule on the case.
In a statement, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) urged Somalis to refrain from any action that could be interpreted in a different way which might lead to diplomatic differences.
“I ask the Somali nationals not to be excited just in case the ruling goes against Kenya. This might lead to unnecessary tension in the country they have called home for decades,” Supkem’s Northeastern regional coordinator Adan Yunis said.
Today’s ruling will bring to an end the case which has been running since 2014 when Somalia first filed the case at the Hague based court.
The court concluded hearings last October with Somalia alone participating in the oral hearings after Kenya pulled out citing bias.
Somalia, which lies northeast of Kenya, wants to extend its maritime frontier with Kenya along the line of the land border, in a south-easterly direction.
Kenya wants the border to head out to sea in a straight-line east, giving it more territory.
The disputed triangle of water stretches over an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers (40,000 square miles).
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