Blame has been shifted to the shoulders of former State Law boss Githu Muigai days after Kenya's attempt to dissuade Somalia from pursuing Indian Ocean dispute took a nose dive.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last week maintained that Kenya is of the opinion that Somalia allows negotiations over the boundary dispute which has turned political.
Early this month, President Uhuru Kenyatta had requests to have the case at International Court of Justice withdrawn for negotiations rejected by Somalia with AU failing for strike an agreement between the two nations.
“In the same spirit, my administration continues to reach out to Somalia in an effort to find an amicable and sustainable solution to the maritime boundary dispute between us,” he told UN assembly.
But details have now emerged that Prof Githu Muigai and a delegation from Kenya International Borders team failed to execute their job properly when Somalia was for negotiations in 2014.
According to multiple interviews, Muigai's team kept on postponing the matter, forcing Somalia to seek attention of International Court of Justice. Hearing dates have been set for November this year.
“When the United Nations asked Kenya whether Somalia should go ahead with the case, Kenya said “yes”, and this was a big mistake,” says a source privy to the bilateral talks.
Thus, Kenya allowed Somalia to move to the ICJ headed by Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, a Somali. This appears to have put the nail on any move to have the case settled outside the court.
According to highly-placed sources, Kenyan authorities failed to deploy the requisite diplomatic tools to dissuade Somalia from moving to the ICJ.
”I think we showed signs of naivety at the beginning. There are people who felt it was time to make money rather than pursue the interest of the country,” said the source.
And because the AG didn’t do much to have the issue resolved amicably and in time, the lethargic Kibo — known to have failed over the Migingo Island issue — seized the opportunity only to later bungle up the negotiations.
“They had a mentality that this was a small case, and that Somalia was a failed State that couldn’t handle the issue,” according to the source.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is now confronting reality after Somalia President Mohammed Farmaajo maintained that his government will not allow negotiations.
Despite an earlier meeting brokered by AU chairman Abdel Fattah, Farmaajo maintained that Somalia has faith in International Court of Justice, headed by a Somali national.
“In the same spirit, my administration continues to reach out to Somalia in an effort to find an amicable and sustainable solution to the maritime boundary dispute between us,” he said.
“In this regard, I welcome the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council of 3rd September 2019 that urges both parties to engage.”