If you read about how various countries have handled their maritime disputes, you will find something called ‘maritime cooperation’.any academic papers and other articles that have studied the Kenya somalia maritime dispute have suggested such an arrangement as an initial first step in settling the dispute.
Maritime cooperation is a peaceful coexistence mechanism, allowing states to share, manage, and secure maritime spaces even amid disputes, without compromising their legal claims.
In most cases, it can be a first step towards a negotiated final settlement.
Countries that have utilized this arrangement are like Nigeria and Sao Tome, Malaysia and Thailand.
Museveni’s recent allegations on owning the sea and directly threatening Kenya should be viewed in the larger scheme of the Kenya somalia maritime dispute.
Probably he wants to provoke Kenya,and without considering the consequences,our clueless foreign affairs and other government agencies will quickly issue statements that Museveni hopes will make it hard for such an arrangement to be considered as an option.
He hopes just like before where him and his Somalian friends had official contradicting positions of GoK as evidence before ICJ, something will come out of GoK. Somalia can then use that to reject any thing from Kenya. As things stand, the next step is somalia to seat down with Kenya and talk, museveni is tying loose ends.
I’m yet to figure out how he directly benefits but I think a successful oil and gas industry in Kenya is a threat to his EACOP project and plans for a refinery.
Uganda is landlocked so it cannot expect a maritime cooperation. Currently Kenya has done a lot to ease the movement of cargo to Uganda including allowing URA to open offices within Kenya Pipeline premises to ease the processing of cargo and reduce non-tariff barriers. Uhuru offered Uganda land at Maai Mahiu ICD to set up offices.
I think Museveni is arm twisting Kenya for something he needs by suggesting that he won’t side with Kenya in its dispute with Somalia. Remember he abandoned the LAPPSET project to build a pipeline to TZ. Midway he changed
A maritime cooperation is an option between Kenya and somalia not Uganda. But his claims that ‘he owns the sea’ must be linked to something as Kenya has fulfilled all it should for a landlocked nation trying to access the sea.
That something, considering he talked about railway, the port, and probably tariffs when we all know they utilized Tanzania as a mitigation must be something counter productive to Kenyan interests. We all know landlocked nations have no business building navies because it is not a need looking at their geographies.
That leaves the only potential case about sea ownership as an item he either has direct or indirect interests- being Kenya Somalia maritime dispute .
It’s also possible the constant push and pull to privatize ports, Kenya pipeline and have sections of sgr privatized are squarely for the interests of Museveni and Uganda.
Couldn’t argue better. It could be a kasongo-kaguta game that will justify the privatisation of institutions linked to the port as you put it. I dare say maybe they are angling for the privatisation of the port to a Kenya-Uganda consortium with a Chong lee or chinedu ogbanje in the mix
I keep insisting the maritime issue is part of the deal.
Another interesting aspect is how Tullow sold Turkana oil wells to Gulf Energy which is most likely owned by politicians through shells in some tax havens. Now they are looking at the blocks in Lamu since Eni left.Probably Museveni has interests in Gulf Energy or some related entity.
No, that was just an example, current beneficiaries must also have links in somalia or doing somalias bidding. Odinga was once asked by an Eni agent in London his opinion about the maritime dispute and he said he stands with the official statement of GoK as issued by president Uhuru. When asked how he will sort he said their is no legit government in somalia, but once it gets one he will negotiate.
So whoever is the beneficiary must be someone who doesn’t want successful negotiations to happen.
Do not apologise. Ukweli isemwe. Raila joining govt enabled the Tullow-Gulf Energy deal. Raila and kasongo had alit of deals going on in the background. Raila failed to clinch the political kingdom and angles for the economic kingdom
The thing is, we have Kenyan cartels whose wealth is built on complicating the passage of goods to and from Uganda. You do remember the oil pipeline issue, where Uganda was denied a license to transport its oil through the Kenyan pipeline. The reason for missing that license was that it did not meet the condition of operating as least one petrol station in Kenya, forcing it to subcontract Kenyan companies. These barriers are put in place purposely to exploit Uganda.