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Somalia: Somalia-Kenya maritime boundary MoU, test for Somali gov't
Saturday, 11 Apr 2009 SMC By Abdurrahman Warsameh MOGADISHU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Somali and Kenyan governments over the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two states is proving a test for the government and creates deep disagreement in war-torn Somalia. The two governments last week signed a memorandum of understanding on their maritime boundary but the agreement ignited heated debate and rift in the Somali government over its legality. Somalia Minister for International Cooperation Abdurrahman Abdishakur Warsame signed the agreement with Kenya Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula. The deputy speaker of Somali parliament Mohamed Omar Dalha said the agreement does not have legal bases as long as it is not ratified by the national legislative. "The agreement between the two countries is inconclusive since it has not been through the legal channels," Dalha told local Simba Radio in Mogadishu. Soon after news of the signing of the agreement emerged, opposition groups have added their voice in condemning the deal which both states say will facilitate their respective presentation submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by May as required under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), because the preparation of a country's claim for submission requires the cooperation of its neighbors. The opposition groups said the Kenyan government submitted to the United Nations "new maritime boundary demarcation" that takes huge chunk of Somalia's territorial waters thus creating "maritime dispute" that the MoU says will not prejudice the submission of Kenya's claim to the Commission. "What the Kenyan government want is to take advantage of the Somalia's current situation and take part of our land but we will defend it with all we can," Sheikh Hassan Turki, a senior insurgent leader in Kismanyu told local residents Friday. Somali Prime Minister Abdurashid Ali Sharmerke on Thursday defended the agreement saying it was necessary for the preparation of Somalia claim for the extension of Somalia continental shelf as cooperation between neighboring is a pre-requite for the submission of the war-torn country's claim. Under the MoU, both states grant non-objection in respect of submissions on the outer Limits of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles to the Commission on Limits of the Continental Shelf. Local radio stations have been holding heated debates in talk shows between government officials and opposition leaders and independent academics regarding the agreement between the Somali government and Kenya. Hundreds of residents have been calling in talk shows on the numerous FM radio stations in Mogadishu to voice their opposition to the agreement while government officials have been painstakingly putting forward their defense of the controversial MoU with Kenya. The MoU between Somalia and Kenya would be one of the biggest tests that faced new Somali government since it was formed early this year with its fragile support within Somalia currently resting on whether it wins or fails in the battle for the minds and hearts of people over ever widening divide on the controversial MoU.
Source: Xinhua Somaliweyn Media Center “SMC”
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