Kenya’s Regional Foreign Policy and the Management of Its Border Disputes: A Case Study of Kenya-Somalia Maritime Dispute (2014-2019)

Kenyan foreign policy on the maritime boundary dispute with Somalia is an integral part of regional peace, security and development in East Africa region. Kenya and Somalia have had a history of boundary disputes right from 1963 where Somalia government pursued the irredentist interest in the region specifically in Ogaden region in Ethiopia and in the Northern Frontier District in Kenya. The Memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Somalia over the maritime dispute was signed in 2009. Having sidelined the MoU and Somalia taking Kenya to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2014 gives this research more ground to demystify the main reasons or objectives why Kenya seems to be so much interested in resolving this dispute in the disputed region in the Indian Ocean in an out of court arrangement. Using available literature on how Kenya is going about on the dispute it is embroiled in with Somalia over the maritime boundary, the study seeks to measure the objectives of Kenya in this particular disputed region, find out Kenyan leverage in East Africa region and to investigate the various strategies Kenya is using to convince Somalia into an alternative dispute resolution other than the ICJ. The research analyzed literature on Kenya’s alternative dispute resolution strategies. This study used qualitative method of data collection and made use of secondary methods of data collection. This data was retrieved from journal article, books on the dispute, magazines discussing about the ongoing dispute, government websites, recoded interviews of important persons handling the dispute and from United Nations documents. The findings indicate that Kenya is trying to protect her national interests in the ongoing territorial interests. The main interests are, territorial integrity, economic development, sovereignty and national security.