Kenya has recalled its ambassador in Mogadishu and ordered Somali envoy Lucas Tumbo out of the country over alleged auctioning of oil blocs belonging to Kenya.
Kenya was offended after discovering Somalia auctioned its oil and gas blocs on the shared maritime territorial borders along the Indian auction to the United Kingdom.
In a statement, Somalia conducted the auction of Kenya’s oil and gas blocs in London on Thursday, February 7.
Yusuf Hussein Mohamed who chairs the Somalia Parliamentary Resource Committee on his part said that those selling the oil blocks in London had no legal ground to do so.
This he explained was because there was no petroleum bill passed and a resource sharing law.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau blamed Somalia for carelessly overlooking globally accepted norms of boundary disputes resolution and political and diplomatic disagreements in auctioning Kenya’s share of the prime blocs.
“This unparalleled affront and illegal grab at the resources of Kenya will not go unanswered. It is tantamount to an act of aggression against the people of Kenya and their resources. The outrageous and provocative auction deserves and will be met with a unanimous and resounding rejection by all Kenyans,” Macharia stated in the hard hitting statement. Macharia said Somalia’s actions had demonstrated it was yet to attain and embrace political maturity.