On August 28, 2014, Somalia wrote to the International Court of Justice in an application to institute proceedings against Kenya with regard to “a dispute concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean”.
In its application, which was accompanied by three sketch-maps, Somalia contended that both States “disagree about the location of the maritime boundary in the area where their maritime entitlements overlap”.
It also told the ICJ that “diplomatic negotiations, in which their respective views have been fully exchanged, have failed to resolve this disagreement”.
The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly was aimed at getting Kenya and Somalia to negotiate, among other things, the ongoing maritime dispute.
So hopeful was Uhuru that he told the UN that Kenya was encouraged by the attempt to have an amicable negotiated solution to the dispute.
“My administration continues to reach out to Somalia in an effort to find an amicable and sustainable solution to the maritime boundary dispute between us,” Uhuru said in his address to the assembly.