Water boundary dispute

Somalia and Kenya have a complicated relationship - sometimes as good neighbors and friends, and other times as rivals. As Somalia re-builds and the government reasserts its national sovereignty, more conflicts may arise over territory and resources with Kenya, Ethiopia and other neighboring nations.

One conflict that has led to recent diplomatic tensions between Somalia and Kenya is the issue of the territorial water boundary. Somalia believes the water boundary is perpendicular to the coast line, which is in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) recommended standards. Both Somalia and Kenya ratified UNCLOS in 1989 however the two countries never reached final agreement on where the boundary lies. Kenya believes the water boundary should be along the line of latitude - similar to its boundary with Tanzania.

Rather than wait until agreement and legal clarity is reached, in early 2012 Kenya went ahead and granted oil and resource exploration contracts within the disputed water territory to three companies - Anadarko, Total and ENI. Somali government officials and others have responded with outrage - calling the contracts a violation of Somalia's national sovereignty. The Kenyan government appears to be ignoring these protests, however, it will need to come up with a more robust reply.

Given Somalia's instability and relative weakness over the past few years, it has been able to do little to prevent Kenya from selling rights within the disputed territory. With the new Somali government in place, however, more protests to the UN and others could put a dent in Kenya's plans. It appears Somalia has a stronger claim to the water, based on international law, however ultimately, a mutually agreeable solution will likely result in the division of the disputed territory between the two countries.

An imperfect resolution is better than no resolution at all. Ending this legal ambiguity would free up both countries to begin resource exploration and extraction.