Editor’s Note– Attached is an official letter that was signed in 1973 by the former President of the Somali Democratic Republic, Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre, who was also the head of the Somali Revolutionary Council outlining the scope and stretch of Somalia’s maritime territorial waters and it’s ports. The official document that was obtained by WardheerNews promulgates the legal ramifications to follow should any foreign entity attempt to violate the contents therein as by law established. With a combined formidable military, strong navy that was capable of repulsing foreign invader,  an army that was the strongest in black Africa, and a capable air force, Somalia’s territorial waters have never been a bone of contention during the military junta rule. With only two years on the helm, the Somali leader had one of the strongest army in Africa.

Surprisingly, with the collapse of the central government in 1991, Somalia’s maritime waters, due to the culmination of universal national fragmentation, political demagoguery pursued by ruthless warlords and greedy transitional government leaders, surreptitious political hooligans working in cahoots with foreign powers opened a can of worms. The legal tussle between Kenya and Somalia over the maritime dispute that is currently with the International Court of Justice in Hague, The Netherlands, where its hearing is expected to conclude at the end of this month, will not appease both competing parties. With the replacements of Somalia’s former legal team, the country has hung its hope on the International Court of Justice ruling to favor without any other option plan! The 62,000-square-mile triangle of the Indian Ocean is believed to contain sizable oil and gas deposits. It is worth asking why the Kenya Government has not been adamant to reclaim it’s maritime claims when the attached bulletin was produced.
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Read the full piece: An official bulletin from the Somali Democratic Republic in 1973

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