Writes Leo Odera Omolo.
KENYANS and Ugandans living in village around Lake Victoria have good reasons to smile following a brief statement issued after a two days ministerial consultative meeting held in Nairobi resolved that the two countries should resume joint survey with the view to establish the true ownership of the disputed island in Lake Victoria.
The two small and rocky islands, which are located close to Kenyan mainland have been the subject of heated argument between the two sister countries. And at one time, the dispute about the ownership of Migingo and Ugingo had threatened to derail the regional integration under the auspices of the East African community, which both countries are the founder members.
Other members of the EAC include Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda shared lake Victoria with Tanzania having the lion’s share of 54 per cent, Uganda 42 per cent and Kenya had the smallest portion of the lake’s water at only 6 per cent, mainly around the Nyanza Gulf (formerly Kavirondo Gulf.
A joint ministerial consultative meeting held in a Nairobi hotel and chaired by Kenya’s Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Prof.George Saitoti and attended by a Ugandan delegation led by his counterpart Sam Kutesa also agreed that a joint policing exercise on the two islands should be established.
Prof Saitoti disclosed to the newsmen that police chiefs from the two countries would meet soon to operationalise the directive of the joint security policing and its mode.
Kenyans living on Migingo and Ugingo islands have often complained of harassment by Ugandan authorities, which they allege demand that, they pay taxes and bribes money before they are allowed to fish.
Migingo’s wealth lies in its proximity to some of the richest remaining deep water fishing ground in Lake Victoria. The highly prized and economically important Nil Perch species is said to be in abundance around the two islands.
Prof Saitoti spoke to newsmen on Wednesday evening at the end of the two days consultation meeting held in a Nairobi hotel between Kenyan and Uganda delegations. He said there is need to approach the issue soberly.”That is why I am happy that the joint consultative meetings that have been held in Nairobi have been very fruitful.”
Ministers in the Kenyan delegation at the Nairobi talks included James Orengo {Lands} Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ {Immigration}, Yusuf Hajji {Defense} and Prof.Hellen Sambili {EAC Affair}. Also in attendance was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of lands Dorothy Angote and the Nyanza Provincial Commissioner Francis Mutie.
Diplomatic row erupted between Kenya and Uganda three years ago and shortly after President Yoweri Museveni controversially claimed that the disputed Migingo Island was in Kenya territory, but its waters were in Uganda.
Museveni defiantly declared that Kenyans would not be allowed to fish on the island, sparking off outrage and protests from the Kenyan public. At one time even Kenyan parliamentarians were up I arms demanding that the issue be handled militarily instead of diplomatically. But the principals in the ruling coalition government President Kibaki and the Prim Minister Raila Odinga repeatedly called for calm and insisted that the issue would be solved harmoniously.
President Kibaki took some time before he public reiterated that both Migingo and Ugingo were on the Kenyan side of the common international border between the two countries.
And on Wednesday this week Minister Saioti said Kenyans and other inhabitants of the two islands should go about their day to day activities without fear.
He added that while carrying out the joint survey, teams from both countries should be guided by the African Map of 1926 and 1962 Lancaster House constitution of Kenya and he 1995 Ugandan constitution.
ON HIS PART, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa said that the Migingo issue should not be politicized, adding that all efforts and consultations be made to resolve the matter
“Let us be sincere while conducting the survey and not engage in acts that may cause unnecessary excitement or tensions,” Kutesa said.
The Ugandan Minister said residents of both countries who lives on the two islands should co-exist peacefully as they wait for the survey to be completed..
Ends