The country to boycott the ICJ hearing over border dispute with Somalia
The country will not be attending the International Court of Justice hearings that begins today over maritime border dispute with Somalia over alleged unfair treatment by the Hague based ICJ court.
The court is accused of disregarding an application by the country for an extension of the hearing.
In a letter sent on Thursday, Kenyan prosecutor General Kihara Kariuki told the Hague-based court that his country shall not be participating in the hearing of the case that is scheduled today.
“Covid-19 pandemic conditions have hampered Kenya’s ability to prepare adequately for the hearing,” Kariuki said.
In the letter, he also argued that holding the ICJ hearings virtually did not allow it to present its case in the most effective way.
“Kenya humbly requests the court to afford it’s agent a thirty minute opportunity to orally address the court before the commencement of the actual hearings,” the letter said.
Kenya says it had roped in a new team of lawyers into the case late 2019 but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the counsels mostly from the UK and America with one Kenyan have not been able to meet and crystallize Kenya’s response.
Kenya argues that it had also presented to the court what it describes as an incredible amount of new evidence, but this evidence has not been admitted essentially crippling the country’s defense.
The UN tribunal rules in disputes between countries, and has been hearing a case brought by Somalia in 2014.
Somalia, which lies in the north east of Kenya, wants to extend its maritime frontier with Kenya along the line of the land border, in a south east direction.
The country wants the border to head out to the 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 kilometres (40,000 square miles).
Somalia claims Kenya has breached on its borders in the Indian Ocean and wants the boundaries reviewed, a move that could rob off Kenya a huge part of its ocean territory.
The country had been designated Thursday and Friday for its oral argument.
On March 22, Somalia is supposed to make its final submission with Kenya making its closing remarks on March 24.
The country has accused her neighbour of taking her to the ICJ court despite an existing memorandum of understanding between the two countries to have the matter resolved within the Africa union framework, Nairobi saying Mogadishu is hellbent on making political capital out of the case.
Somalia has not responded at the moment to Kenya’s decision to boycott the hearing.
