#UNGA: Kenya pushes for negotiation as Somalia expected to stand ground

Kenya has reiterated its call for an out of a court settlement in the maritime case with Somalia noting it was still reaching out to its neighbor to be ‘amenable to acceptable and sustainable solution’.

But Googjoog News has learnt President Farmaajo will be pouring cold water on the call insisting his country remains focused on the ICJ verdict.

Addressing the UN Security Council General Assembly Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said it was in the best interest of both countries to negotiate even as Somalia stands ground it will betting on the ICJ outcome.

“My administration still reaches out to the Federal Republic of Somalia in an effort to find an amicable and sustainable solution to the maritime boundary dispute between us,” the Kenyan leader said.

Kenya, Kenyatta said, welcomes the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council which ‘urge both parties to engage’. He added the UN Charter and its Convention on the Law of the Sea ‘privileges the use of negotiation as the most preferred mechanism for settling for settlement of disputes’.

“It is in this normative framework that Kenya calls for the resolution of this dispute through negotiation and we remain hopeful that the Federal Government of Somalia will be amenable to and committed to the search for a mutually acceptable and sustainable solution to this dispute.”

President Mohamed Farmaajo is expected to present his country’s view on the matter which is set to kick off at the Hague based Court November 4.

The two leaders met in AU mediated talks Tuesday in New York but Somalia said the talks did not include negotiations on the maritime case.