Amid a simmering border row with Kenya, that has seen the expulsion of ambassador Mohamoud Ahmed Nur alias Tarzan from the country, Somalia has issued a statement denying the allegations raised against it. The statement was issued on February 17 after a meeting in Mogadishu of top officials including President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre.
Somalia regretted that Kenya expelled the ambassador without consulting it. Somalia said Kenya instructed the ambassador “to depart” and via Twitter on Sunday, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau wrote, “FYI For the record we did not ‘recall’ our Ambassador nor ‘expel’ Somalia’s We summoned ours for consultations and asked that theirs departs for consultations on their side so that we can resolve this matter with credible and correct information from both sides [sic].”
Somalia’s response was to Kenya’s communication on February 8 on maritime zones presented at the Somalia Oil and Gas Conference on February 7 in London. The country denied that the maps were illegal, saying, “The maps in question depict Somalia’s claimed maritime zones and are entirely consistent with Somalia’s long-standing position, including its claim in the maritime delimitation case with Kenya, currently before the International Court of Justice.”
Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation noted that this position reflected its duty to protect its “sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and unity”. Regarding allegations that it auctioned oil and gas blocks in Kenya’s maritime territorial area that borders it, the Somalia ministry said it was not doing so and that it did not have any such plans.
