Kenya’s maritime boarder dispute with Somalia seem to have taken a new twist.
According to senior counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Kenyan Authorities have a plan aimed at punishing Kenyan Somali clans.
The senior counsel says that as a result of the dispute wit Somalia, Kenyan authorities have profiled certain Kenyan Somali clans for retribution and sanctions like deportations to 3rd world countries.
The lawyer says that the Kenyan authorities also have plans to confiscate passports as well as revocation of citizenship of Kenyan Somalis.
He says there is also a plan to seizure the bank accounts and properties.
“BREAKING NEWS…Because of the maritime dispute with Somalia, Kenyan authorities have profiled certain Kenyan Somali CLANS for retribution/sanctions like deportations to 3rd countries, confiscation of passports, revocation of citizenship, seizure of bank accounts/properties etc,” he tweeted.
BREAKING NEWS…Because of the martime dispute with Somalia, Kenyan authorities have profiled certain Kenyan Somali CLANS for retribution/sanctions like deportations to 3rd countries, confiscation of passports, revocation of citizenship, seizure of bank accounts/properties etc.
— Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) May 28, 2019
The Somali government however says it’s not ready to take any action that could threaten its relationship with its neighbor Kenya. The announcement comes amidst simmering tensions over potential offshore oil deposits and an incident where Somali government officials and diplomats were denied entry to Kenya last week.
In a leaked protest letter, the Somali government raised concerns about what it called a Kenyan decision to deny entry visas to some lawmakers and diplomats, who had planned to attend a European Union meeting in Nairobi on Tuesday last week.
Kenya’s foreign affairs minister, Monica Juma, said she wasn’t aware of the incident, and said she would be surprised if anyone with a valid visa is denied entry.
The incident was likely related to a dispute over which country controls 100,000 square kilometers of Indian Ocean believed to hold oil and gas deposits. In February, Kenya recalled its ambassador to Somalia because of the disagreement.
Somalia filed a complaint against Kenya in the International Court of Justice in 2014, saying it had exhausted all other avenues of finding a solution to the dispute.
When Somalia filed its complaint, Kenya filed a preliminary objection, saying the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries had avenues of dispute resolution.
But the ICJ in 2017 ruled it has jurisdiction on the matter and ordered the countries to submit their arguments.