Reports Leo Odera Omolo in Karungu-, Migori district Bay
HUNDREDS Kenyans fishermen, fish traders kiosk owners and their dependants continued fleeing from the tiny “Migingo” fishing island fearing for their lives and possible armed confrontations between Ugandan soldiers and Kenyan security forces.
So far there has never been any shooting incident, but the Kenyan resident became disillusioned soon after their government withdrew its security personnel from the island.
In Nairobi,Kenya’s Minister for East African Affairs Amason Jefwa Kingi nnpunced tht a high profile Kenyan delegation to be lead by the Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga would visit Kampala early next month to hold talks with the Ugandan authorities over the issue.
Both Kenya and Uganda claims ownership of the small rocky island measuring only on.1.2 acre of land., whose majority of the inhabitants are Kenyans and a few Tanzanian and Ugandan fishermen. The disputed island is located only 15 kilometers in the Lake Victoria from the Kenyan shoreline and the mainland, while the distant between “Migingo” and the nearest mainland Uganda is about 250 kilometers.
The old East African map. Drawn in the early 1930s by the British Colonial administration in East Africa clearly showing that Migingo and several islands in Lake Victoria which have since been seized by Uganda were parts and parcel of Kenyan.
Minister Kingi disclosed that he would be in the Prime Minister entourage to Kampala. He said it was unfortunate that the dispute has emerged during the final stage of negotiations to usher in free trade movements among the East African Community member states..”
On Saturday, fishing activities were hampered after Uganda soldiers pitched camp on the disputed island and barred all Kenyan fishermen from key fishing areas in Migori and Suba districts.
H processing firms based in Kisumu, Migori, Homa-bay and Nairobi on the mainland Kenya had sent lorries fitted with refrigerators to the fish land beaches encountered heavy financial loses as there we5re no fish to collect. Many fishermen had fled Migingo an other fishing island. Those who have come ashore said they had left behind their fishing gears such as fishing nets,. Outboard engines, canoes,. Personal effects and households.
The fleeing Kenyan reported heavy military presence by Ugandan soldiers on the island. Uganda soldiers, they said are using helicopter to monitor the waters around
“Migingo.”.The airborn soldiers reinforced more than 100 troops and military police sent earlier to the disputed island.
The Kenyan minister urgent his colleagues, particularly the Internal Security Minister
Prof. George Saitoti and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Moses Wetangula to urgently
contact their Uganda counterparts for a meeting to seek an amicable and peaceful
solution of the impasse..
About 500 Kenyan fishermen, fish traders, food kiosk owners who lives on this island
angrily protested when Kenya withdrew its security personnel from the island last
Thursday.
Enraged in anger the fishermen blocked the Migori District Commissioner Mr. JHoseph Mutula and his security team from leaving the island and force them to sleep in mud thatched filthy hut for the night. They stopped them leaving the island together with the 12 administration policemen earlier posted to patrol the area.
But reached by phone the D.C vehemently denied that he was held hostage by the Kenyan fishermen, saying that it was late for the group to leave in a stormy late afternoon as the weather had deteriorated making sailing in a small boat very risk.
Meanwhile fishermen in the nearby beaches on the Kenya’s mainland says they fear venturing into to the lake for being attacked by the seemingly belligerent Ugandan soldiers who have also been seen patrolling the lake on the Kenyan side close to the mainland. And at times chasing him deep mand and village incite Kenta. These increase the prompt fishing activities to a half.
The chairman of Migingo Bench management unit Mr. Juma Ombori condemned the withdrawal of Kenya security forces from the maid and appeals to President Mwai Kibaki to intervene.
Uganda dispatched Marine and riot Police to the Island on Thursday, heightening tension between the two countries lacked in dispute over the ownership of the Island.
Two Mps from the lake region have asked the government to deploy the Navy to the area to protect Kenyan fishermen and their families
Dick Omondi Anyanga (Nyatike) and Joseph Oyugi Magwanga (Kasipul-Kabondo) want Kenya to deploy its forces along the shoreline of Lake Victoria to Monitor which they termed as an out of aggression against Kenya people by the Uganda government.
It is primarily heavy estimated the up to.250 Kenyans have already fled the dispute Island most of the fleet Kenya have landed at Muhuru-Bayo and Sori Karungu- Bay and at Nyandiwa in Gwassi constituency, Suba fishes
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com.
The author could be contacted on cellphones 0722 486181 and 0734 509215
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Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:51:01 -0800 [07:51:01 AM CST]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: KENYANS FLEEING MIGINGO ISLAND IN THEIR HUNDREDS AS UGANDAN HELICOPTER INTENSIFIES RECONNAINCE FLIGHTS ON THE AREA
If Migingo is conceded to Uganda..next will be: Remba, Riengeti, Mfangano and Rusinga Island Google these places and see how close they are to Migongo than Uganda. I have depressed feeling that so so long as these Islands are far way from Nairobi, Kisumu and other mainland cities in Kenya nobody will care about the suffering of the citizens of Kenya who resides in these regions. I thought the security of the country is paramount to protecting the country’s borders and it’s citizen. Oh by the way i forgot may the purpose of the security is to protect election riots!.
My village of in Mfangano Island have paid dearly just being closer to the border..Uganda soldiers have routinely landed in my village which is 500 KM round trip to kill individual people on the spot without ” any fear of consiquences from Kenya government. In all these, I don’t hear or know what Luo MPS are doing to get the attention of the central government to act. I thought Luos have PM to take care of security until next election..what happen??. I bet there is good chance that kenya armed forces and Security Minister and his Ministry has never set foot in this region and does NOT even know where these Islands are!.
I am pleading with readers of this website, to write to all Nyanza MPS to get central government attention on this issue. We elected them to do something and if they cannot take care of the voters anywhere in Nyanza what is their purpose in Kenya politics??
Jd brown
There have been a lot of interests in and around Lake Victoria by international corporations looking for natural resources to exploit. So, Kenyans must be very careful about the way they handle this Migingo Island dispute, particularly, if there is a remote possibility of discovery of oil or natural gas resources around the area.
Kenya government, like many sub-Saharan African countries, have no equipments do natural resources explorations for like oil and other minerals. In many parts of this region, these types of explorations are carried out by small foreign venture capitalists who are sometimes very ruthless once they hit the jackpot! In fact, the people doing the exploration are so sophisticated and mild mannered that few will realize how ruthless they are. They sometimes pose as protectors of wild animals or archeologists.
Most tribal wars intended to dislocate poor Africans from the sight of a natural resource will suddenly erupt once the discovery is made. The big problem is that in Kenya, most land is owned by the government. So, corrupt power brokers can opt for the dislocation/killing of poor citizens in exchange for bribes from foreign venture capitalists to secure the loot.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have been the darlings of venture capitalists by being proxies for the looting of natural resources, particularly, in the Democratic Republic of Congo where about 1.5 million poor Congolese have perished while other displaced thousands live in filthy tent cities being fed by UN World food program. This is the unspoken natural resources fueled genocide. Democratic Republic of Congo has tons of minerals and multinational corporations are willing to promote killing of Africans who get in the way of the exploitation of these minerals. One such mineral is called COLTAN, and 80% of the world supply comes from DRC.
Uses of coltan in modern society are:
• Laptop computers
• Cellular phones
• Jet engines
• Rockets
• Cutting tools
• Camera lenses
• X-ray film
• Ink jet printers
• Hearing aids
• Pacemakers
• Automobile Airbag protection systems
• Ignition and motor control modules, GPS, ABS systems in automobiles
• Game consoles such as play station, Xbox and Nintendo
• Video cameras
• Digital still cameras
• Sputtering targets
• Chemical processing equipment
• Catholic protection systems for steel structures such as bridges, water tanks
• Prosthetic devices for humans – hips, plates in the skull, also mesh to repair bone removed after damage by cancer
• Suture clips
• Corrosion resistant fasteners, screws, nuts, bolts
• High temperature furnace parts.
• High temperature alloys for air and land based turbines
Not long ago, there was some oil discovery in Lake Albert, which lies between Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. There is tension between Uganda and DRC!!! The natural resources in Sub-Saharan Africa belong to foreigners and the African guards willing to do the killings on their behalf in exchange for bribes and lethal arms with which
East Africans should not fight over an island belonging to them. The map clearly shows that Kenya as a country has a very small part of Lake Victoria on its side. The fish that Kenyan fishermen are making a halabaloo over most likely comes from Uganda. Uganda and Tanzania have the biggest parts of Lake Victoria according to the map. The Nile perch that Kenyan fisherment are yelling about comes from Uganda. There is no River Nile in Kenya. Most of the fish that Kenyan fishermen catch come from Ugandan side. Moreover, there are smugglers smuggling goods into and from Uganda using the lake. Uganda has interest in the island for many reasons and when they charge duty on the Kenyan fishermen, it is nothing compared with the fish that they catch from Ugandan side and sell for a fortune. Kenya charges duty for all Ugandan goods passing through Kenya. They have blockaded Uganda in times of their need. For example, Kenyans from Kisumu falsely accused Ugandan troops of being the ones that quelled the riots in Kisumu during the election time. Although there was no evidence or basis for this, Kenyans in Kisumu use this lie to disparage Uganda. At that time Kenya had its own troops and paramilitary. It is absurd to blame foreigner for political mistakes in Kenya. When Ugandan drivers were transporting their goods from Mombasa, after paying duty to Kenyan government, they were attacked and raped by Kalenjin tribesmen. Uganda did not formally lodge any protest. Neither did Kenyans condemn their citizens evil deeds. It was amusing to see a delegation of so many Kenyan ministers, including security minister, George Saitoti swoop over Kampala over Migingo. They received a cold shoulder. Before that Saitoti probably had never been to Uganda. At least I have never heard of Saitoti going to Uganda before for anything. Moreover the Saitoti delegation had expected some Ugandan officials to receive them at the airport. Kenyans should stop behaving like some spoilt colonial or neocolonial children. What makes Kenyans usually believe they are better than Ugandans? Is it the criminal infested city of Nairobi that the colonialists originally planned for themselves, by building the East African Industries? Common, Kenyans wake up and realize that you are Africans, just like Ugandans or Tanzanians. Kenyans are fishing in muddy waters when they complain about Ugandan presence in Migingo.
The issue of Migingo island is non-negotiable. It incumbent upon Uganda to realise that diplomacy is not the only option. Uganda has appointed herself the sole bully in East and Central Africa.If Kenya military cant secure our borders on flimsy excuse that its ‘a small rocky island’ then its mandate ceases. Kenya should realise that the Matoke nation is just testing the waters and this is a pre-view on greater things to come.We cant enjoy the label of the region’s superpower and fail to demonstrate it on this kind of aggression. We may not tell who else is going to claim what next if we continue with this kind of slumber.
Chirley;
The Lake Victoria artificial boundaries you citing were instituted by the British Colonial powers. You seem to be oozing with pride the artificial colonial boundary on the lake favours Uganda and Tanzania. I am sure people like you would be happy to behead any fisherman who may stray on the wrong part of Lake Victoria. You are conditioned to feel that way.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda and his buddy, Paul Kagame of Rwanda have formed a “Dangerous Liaisons” intended for carrying out resources exploitation which encourages mass displacement and murder (genocide) of poor Africans, both in their territories and beyond, on behalf of the multinational corporations. These are the corporations that supply these two renegades with dangerous weapons that are not manufactured in Africa; the weapons are brought into the territories on the aeroplanes of the sponsoring corporate bandits for whom Museveni and Kagame tirelessly work.
The two famous African corporate proxies are now joined by a third one called Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi who is being treated like a king by the West. These three men have sworn to to kill Africans at all costs. They do not understand that when they exhaust their usefulness to these foreign bandits, they will end up at International Criminal Court or in exile somewhere (if they are lucky). Charles Taylor of Liberia went on diamonds murderous campaign in Liberia and Sierra Leone and ended up at The Hague. Idi Amin and Mobutu Sesse Seko ended up in exile somewhere in Arabian Desert and Morocco respectively before their deaths. Thousands of Congolese and Ugandans were butchered or pushed as meals for Nile and Kagera rivers crocodiles.
What these murderous African “elites” do not understand is that the interests of these foreign corporations have nothing to do with friendship or loyalty to any African leader. Their interests are based solely on their ability to get their hands on the natural resources and pay bribes to extract them. This is the cheapest way to get these resources, recruit headless African proxies willing to murder other Africans en masse!
People like Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Paul Kagame and Laurent Nkunda are the reasons why Africa, despite tons of natural resources, is condemned to underdevelopment, diseases and perpetual poverty. The resources coming from the African continent are making foreigners very, very rich while Africans are being ravaged by HIV/AIDS and its poor people have now become guinea pigs for foreign pharmaceuticals’ HIV/AIDS clinical trials.
The rage exhibited by Africans during Rwanda massacre or in Sierra Leone and Liberia resources civil wars or 2007/2008 elections rampage in Kenya indicated that Africans leaders are menaces incapable of protecting their own citizens.