1. Kenya has summoned its Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia, Ambassador
Lt. General (Rtd) Lucas Tumbo. He has been summoned back to Nairobi for urgent
consultations. The summons is a consequence of a most regretful and egregious
decision by the Government of Somalia to auction off oil and gas blocks in Kenya’s
maritime territorial area that borders Somalia.
2. The auction took place in London, United Kingdom, on the 7th February, 2019.
3. This unparalleled affront and illegal grab at the resources of Kenya will not go
unanswered and is tantamount to an act of aggression against the people of Kenya
and their resources. This outrageous and provocative auction deserves and will be met
with a unanimous and resounding rejection by all Kenyans as well as all people of
goodwill who believe in the maintenance of international law and order and the
peaceful and legal resolution of disputes.
4. Kenya, through multiple channels including direct diplomatic demarches at the highest
of levels has sought to find an amicable and peaceful resolution of the maritime
boundary and has severally and emphatically stated its unequivocal claim of the
maritime area that is known to be historically Kenyan. Kenya has willingly and
procedurally enjoined itself to the international legal processes of international
boundary disputes, including but not limited to, bilateral negotiations and subservience
to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) where this matter of the Kenya/Somalia
boundary currently rests.
5. By carelessly ignoring the internationally acceptable norms of boundary dispute
resolution and or political and diplomatic disagreements, the Government of the
Federal Republic of Somalia has once again demonstrated that it has yet to attain and
embrace the political maturity and diplomatic stance of a normal, well adjusted, and
properly functioning modern government.
6. It is tragic and most regretful that the Government of Somalia has chosen to take this
action against a people and a State that has stood by the Somali people through
incredible humanitarian and political hardships. Kenya has stood by Somalia without
once flinching on its responsibility to its neighbour nor shirking its international
responsibility to the people of Somalia.
7. Kenya regrets that the action of the Government of Somalia has undermined and
severely damaged the existing cordial and brotherly relations between the
Governments of Kenya and Somalia and has compromised half a century’s worth of
dedication and cooperation between the two countries.
8. It is particularly egregious that the Government of Somalia has chosen to dismiss these
years of commitment to the people of Somalia by seeking to auction Kenyan sovereign
resources to the highest predatory bidders from the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland and the Kingdom of Norway among others.
9. On 6th February, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alarmed at the incorrect display
and characterization of Kenyan maritime territory as belonging to Somalia, during the
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London auction, summoned the Somali Ambassador to Kenya and formally demanded
a withdrawal of the incorrect map displayed at the Conference and a cessation of the
auction of the oil and gas blocks in Kenya’s territory.
10. The Ambassador of Somalia received the protest (demarche) and confirmed on the
same day that Kenya’s alarm and consternation at developments at the London
Conference, had been registered at the highest level of the Somali Government. It was
agreed that there would be a speedy and amicable response to Kenya’s objections.
11. At the same time, Kenya’s Ambassador to Somalia received his instructions to formally
deliver Kenya’s protest to the Government of Somalia which, again, Kenya’s
Ambassador confirmed was received at the highest level of the Somali Government.
12. It is therefore most regretful that the Government of Kenya has now arrived at the
conclusion that its protest and demands that Kenya sovereignty and territorial integrity
be respected, have been ignored. The Government of Kenya cannot and will not
standby as its demarches are ignored and its territorial integrity is infringed upon and
its sovereign resources are carved out and shared out by an ungracious and
unbrotherly neighbour acting to satisfy the greed of commercial interests resident in
foreign lands.
13. Kenya would like to remind the Government of Somalia and by extension the
international community that Kenya’s magnanimity towards its neighbours must never
be taken for granted. Kenya has paid an unparalleled price for its generosity and
hospitality without ever asking for anything in return. The lives of Kenyans lost owing
to Kenya’s commitment to international peace and security remain a fresh memory in
the minds of Kenyans and a painful remainder of the high cost of good neighbourliness
and international corporate responsibility.
14. Over the past 30 years, Kenya has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees from
many of its neighbours. Today, Kenya hosts over four hundred thousand Somali
refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya despite the hijacking of these humanitarian
spaces by terrorists and criminal elements who have used the camps to plan and
launch terror attacks in Kenya. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. The
patience of the people of Kenya is not infinite.
15. Kenya is prepared and ready to defend its territorial integrity at any cost and considers
all those directly or indirectly involved, whether Kenyan or non-Kenyan in
encroachment of Kenya’s territory as enemies of the State and as adversaries of the
Kenyan people
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