Kenya Expresses Support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for Sahara

The Republic of Kenya has expressed support for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as a most feasible and credible solution to the Moroccan Sahara dispute and affirmed its intention to cooperate with like-minded states to promote its implementation.

According to a statement by Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this position was expressed during the first session of the Morocco-Kenya Joint Cooperation Commission, co-chaired on Thursday in Nairobi by Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates Mr. Nasser Bourita and Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya Dr. Musalia Mudavadi.

In the Joint Communiqué inked at the end of this Joint Commission, Kenya “welcomed the growing international consensus and the momentum driven by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in favor of the autonomy plan presented by the Kingdom of Morocco,” describing autonomy as “the only credible and realistic solution to resolve the dispute over the Sahara.”

Deeming the autonomy plan presented by Morocco to be a “sustainable approach” to resolving the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, Kenya stated its intention to “cooperate with like-minded States to promote its implementation.”

The statement further said that Kenya also welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2797, which enshrines “the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty as the basis for a just, lasting and mutually acceptable resolution of the dispute.”

In this regard, Kenya stated that it “endorses the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy to facilitate and conduct negotiations based on the autonomy plan.”

“In this Joint Communiqué, the Kingdom of Morocco welcomed the support of the Republic of Kenya for the United Nations framework as the exclusive mechanism to achieve a lasting political solution” to the dispute over the Sahara issue,” the statement,” the statement stressed.

Morocco further expressed its “appreciation for Kenya’s recognition of the Kingdom’s continued cooperation with the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy to advance the political process” on the basis of the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Kenya’s position on the Sahara is in alignment with growing global support for the Moroccan autonomy plan as the genuine solution to the regional dispute.

Many European countries, including Netherlands, Czech Republic ,Belgium and Finland, have shown strong support to the Moroccanness of the Sahara and the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco.

The European Union has also officially adopted a unified position supporting Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara at the 15th EU-Morocco Association Council session recently held in Brussels.

The 27 EU-member states agreed that genuine autonomy could be among the most feasible solutions” for the final resolution of the regional dispute.

In addition, a number of countries have recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara and supported the country’s Autonomy Plan as a credible and realistic solution to the dispute.

To date, more than 20 countries have opened consulates in the southern cities of Laayoune and Dakhla, while over 110 UN member states have expressed support for the Autonomy Plan as a serious and credible basis for a lasting political settlement.