Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/15/kenya-boycotts-world-court-hearing-on-somalia-sea-boundary-row
In 2014, Somalia filed a case with the World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), concerning a maritime boundary dispute between itself and Kenya. The ICJ is the highest court in the United Nations. Its rulings are final, although there is no avenue through which rulings can be enforced. Kenya is refusing to attend the hearings.
The two countries have been fighting over seafloor territory in the Indian Ocean. This specific region is geopolitically important because it is believed to hold an abundance of energy sources such as oil and gas. The presence of oil and gas creates economic opportunities for whichever country controls the territory. Because of this, the maritime territory is considered valuable to both Kenya and Somalia.
Court hearings regarding territory control were originally scheduled for this week, but Kenya did not participate on Monday by either virtual or in-person attendance. The Kenyan government announced that its boycott of the hearing is because its requests to delay the hearing, on basis of Covid-related complications, have been largely ignored by the ICJ. Somalia has publicly criticized Kenya’s refusal to participate, stating that the ICJ has been more than accommodating to Kenya, and that the trial had already been delayed 18 months.
Historically, the disputed maritime territory has been controlled by Kenya. Kenya was awarded control of the territory around the time that large amounts of oil were being discovered off the coast of East Africa. Still, Somalia argues that Kenya simply took advantage of the fact that the Somalian government was weakened by internal issues.
Kenya’s argument is that Somalia didn’t dispute the territory for 35 years, so it must not have been inherently wrong. Somalia’s argument is that the line of territory should naturally follow the land boundary out into the ocean.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been worsening in recent years. There have been a growing number of accusations of offenses such as oil theft, for example. From the realist perspective, this is not surprising because states act rationally only in their own self interest.