This archive report was first published on 27 September 2019.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Somalia to engage in dialogue to resolve their maritime dispute, emphasizing that court action should be a last resort.
Speaking at the 74th Session of the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on September 25, 2019, in New York, President Kenyatta said that dialogue was the best option to finding a solution to the dispute.
He noted that the fight over borders by neighboring nations distracted them from crucial regional security concerns such as the war on terror.
President Kenyatta, who met with his Somali counterpart Mohamed Farmajo on Tuesday, said that he was open to anything, but affirmed his commitment to dialogue as the best option to finding a solution.
He added that as neighboring countries, they should not be fighting about borders but instead work together to ensure citizens got the right services.
“As neighbours, we should not be fighting about borders instead be working together to have a secure environment so that our people do not have to work with the fear of Al-Shabaab,” he said.
President Kenyatta also welcomed the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council of September 2019 that encourages both parties to engage in dialogue.
He said that dialogue had enabled him to solve disputes with other countries along the borders and this was exactly what he wanted to apply to solve the problem with Somalia.
Published on September 27, 2019.
