LAMU COUNTY, 17 March, 2021 (TON): Amid increasing tensions between the Kenyan and Somalia authorities over the long-running maritime border dispute, the fishermen of the Lamu County, on the Northern coast of Kenya, took to the sea with their dhows in protest.

The disputed waters rich in fish, are crucial to the people of Lamu County, but with the ongoing dispute, the livelihood of many is threatened.

Is’Haq Abubakar, of the Save Lamu movement, said, "It is not too late for both countries, Somali and Kenya, to explore other obvious channels including the IGAD, the African Union or even our Elders, who have settled such differences for centuries."

"The people of Lamu and our brothers in Somali have coexisted for centuries and continue to consider the current boundaries simply as colonial lines drawn neither to the interest of Kenya or Somali people," he added.

Somalia has been asking the UN’s International Court of Justice to rule over the contested waters of the Indian Ocean since 2014, however, days earlier Kenyan representatives refused to participate in the hearings that seemed to stalemate the negotiations.