Kenya has told Somalia that it has nothing to lose when the maritime case kicks off on schedule on March 15, 2021 at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.
Authorities in Kenya made this declaration after news broke out that ICJ rejected Nairobi’s request for a postponement of the case that is scheduled for oral hearing next month.
On February 14, Kenya issued an official communiqué saying, “We have nothing to lose but everything to gain.”
Further, Kenya has accused Somali authorities of being overly excited over ICJ’s rejection of their appeal for postponement.
ICJ rejected Kenya’s request for the fourth postponement.
The Hague-based court had postponed the case thrice before at Kenya’s request.
Ambassador Kamau Macharia, the Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Kenya was justified in asking for the postponement.
“We have previously requested for postponement of the case because of the devastating effect of COVID-19 that continues to be a problem to Kenya and Somalia,” Ambassador Macharia said.
Nevertheless, he announced that Kenya would be ready when the case commences within the next four weeks.