The presentation to the UN Commission in New York comes just a fortnight after Kenya challenged as invalid a case filed by Somalia to the International Court of Justice.
Though Somalia has already sued Kenya on the issue, Kenya argues it wants to know the area in which it will have rights to exploit resources in the sea.
Usually, based on what a country presents, the commission’s recommendations are final and binding and Kenya may have to adjust to those recommendations.
Kenya has presented to the UN evidence of what it believes should determine its sea boundary dispute with Somalia.
On Thursday, Attorney-General Githu Muigai and his team tabled geographical and seismic data collected for the past seven years.
The submission, to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, is in a bid to prove that the current sea boundary with Somalia should stand.
“In preparing the submission, Kenya had to acquire bathymetric data in 2007 and seismic, magnetics and gravity data in 2008, in offshore areas appurtenant to Kenya,” the Attorney-General’s Office said in a statement on Thursday.
The presentation to the UN Commission in New York comes just a fortnight after Kenya challenged a case filed by Somalia to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as invalid.
The commission was created by the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.
It usually considers data and other material submitted by coastal states concerning the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (370km) and to make recommendations.
Though Somalia has already sued Kenya on the issue, Kenya argues it wants to know the area in which it will have rights to exploit resources in the sea.
DISCORD OVER RESOURCES
“Kenya stands to benefit from minerals and other non-living resources of the seabed and the subsoil together with living organisms belonging to the sedentary species," the AG's Office stated.
