Moroccan Sahara: Security Council Resolution 2602 Recognizes Relevance, Centrality of Moroccan Autonomy Plan – Kenyan Newspaper –

The Security Council resolution 2602 on the Moroccan Sahara recognizes the relevance and centrality of the Moroccan autonomy plan, proposed by the Kingdom as the only framework to achieve a lasting and acceptable political solution to the artificial dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, writes on Monday the Kenyan newspaper “The Standard.” On October 29, the Security Council, of which Kenya is a non-permanent member, adopted resolution 2602, which enshrines the relevance and centrality of the Moroccan autonomy plan by 13 votes out of 15, points out the newspaper, adding that “Kenya has, for the first time, voted in favor alongside the United States and France among others.” Following this resolution, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita, welcomed the vote, saying it “enshrines the pre-eminence of the Moroccan autonomy initiative to resolve this artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara,” adds the daily. “Artificial” because the so-called republic “claimed by the polisario separatists financed by Algiers does not exist,” says the author of the article, Tony Adam Mochama. The territory is in fact under the effective sovereignty of Morocco since 1975 and saw a turnout of 65% in the last general elections, held last September, the highest of all regions of the Kingdom, notes Mochama. As early as October 16, 1975, the International Court of Justice in The Hague confirmed the existence of legal ties and allegiance between the Sultans of Morocco and the Sahrawi tribes long before the colonial presence, adds the daily. In its resolution 2602, the UN Security Council mentioned the securing of the border post of El Guergarat in November 2020 by Morocco against the militias of “polisario” who were trying to disrupt the movement of goods and commodities in the region, recalls the daily, adding that the speech of His Majesty King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Green March reaffirmed that the Moroccanness of the Sahara is non-negotiable. Quoted by the newspaper, Morocco’s ambassador to Kenya, Mokhtar Ghambou credited the change in Kenya’s position towards Morocco in the Security Council, particularly to think tanks, media, and civil society organizations’ actions, expressing the willingness to see Morocco’s strategic allies work further towards a beneficial partnership with Kenya. The Moroccan diplomat also stressed the need to consolidate bilateral relations between Morocco and Kenya by opening a Kenyan embassy in Rabat, explaining that this step would facilitate investments for Moroccan companies.