I’ve been looking deep into the history of our borders, the maritime dispute, and the recent oil exploration deals, and frankly, the math and the history both say the same thing: Jubaland should belong to Kenya. kenya is getting robbed blind after doing all the heavy lifting.
Here is why Kenya has a right to reclaim it:
1. The British gave it away illegally People forget that Jubaland was originally part of the British East Africa Protectorate (modern-day Kenya). But in 1924, the British just casually sliced it off and handed it to the Italians. Why? As a political bribe to reward Italy for joining the Allies in World War I. They didn't consult the locals, and they had no legal or moral mandate to give away Kenyan territory to settle European war debts. That land was illegally amputated from Kenya.
2. Kenya paid for Jubaland’s stability in blood and treasure Fast forward to the last two decades. Who has been pacifying Jubaland? Kenya. When Al-Shabaab was running rampant and threatening the entire region, it was the KDF that went in during Operation Linda Nchi. Kenya spent 100s of millions of Dollars and, tragically, lost hundreds of brave soldiers stabilizing that region. On top of that, Kenya has shouldered the massive economic and social burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of Somalian refugees in camps like Dadaab for over thirty years. Kenya bled for that land, and paid to shelter its people when their own state collapsed.
3. The Oil Robbery & The "Turkish Newcomers" This is the part that should make every Kenyan furious. After Kenya spent decades stabilizing Jubaland and fighting terror, who is reaping the rewards? the Turka. Because of the recent maritime border rulings, Kenya is losing out on the massive offshore oil reserves right off the Jubaland coast.
Let's look at the numbers. Out of close to 50 offshore blocks on Jubaland waters, just look at Block 190 and Block 206. The recent audits by Liberty Petroleum estimate that these two blocks alone hold around 7 billion barrels of oil. And where is this oil wealth going? Somalia just signed massive offshore exploration deals with Turkey.
So let me get this straight: the Turkish newcomers—who spent close to absolutely nothing pacifying the region, didn't shed blood fighting Al-Shabaab in the trenches of Jubaland, and didn't spend billions hosting refugees for 30 years—get to swoop in and take the oil? They get the 7 billion barrels while Kenya gets border insecurity and a massive military bill?
Kenya was illegally stripped of Jubaland by the British, Kenya paid the ultimate price to rebuild and pacify it over the last two decades, and now the oil wealth right off its shores is being handed over to foreign opportunists who did none of the work. It’s an absolute geopolitical failure on Kenya's part to just sit back and let this happen.
Thoughts? Am I wrong for thinking Kenya should be taking a much harder stance on reclaiming what is historically and practically theirs?
TL;DR: The British illegally gifted Jubaland to Italy in 1924. Kenya spent the last 20 years and 100s of millions of dollars pacifying the region and hosting its refugees. Now, we are losing out on an estimated 7 billion barrels of oil in offshore blocks 190 and 206 to Turkey, a country that spent nothing to rebuild the region. Kenya needs to wake up.