The Federal Republic of Somalia has denied Kenya’s assertion that the boundary agreement signed between the two countries in 2009 did not specify the best way to resolve the boundary dispute between them.
In their International Court of Justice submissions at The Hague, the Mogadishu delegation argued that the 2009 MoU only addressed issues on the outer limits of the continental shelf but did not restrict the two neighbours on specific dispute resolution mechanisms.
Led by lawyers Paul Reichler and counterpart Allain Pellet, Somalia told the court the MoU did not bar them from suing Kenya.
“Kenya’s bid to re-characterise the MoU is an invention, and it is an invention that is bound to fail,” Somalia said.
“Even if Somalia was in breach of the MoU, which it is not, this will not preclude it from coming to the court.”
Through Attorney General Githu Muigai, Kenya had on Monday claimed that Somalia’s bringing of the case to The Hague was contrary to a previous agreement, urging the court to drop the case.
The Kenyan delegation will continue their submissions on Wednesday.