In pursuant of Article 9 of a joint ministerial communiqué signed on July 26th, 2011 in Nairobi; the police chiefs of Uganda and Kenya sanctioned a joint-patrol agreement for the disputed island of Migingo in the Ugandan capital Kampala. Whilst this is a commendable step, it does not resolve the dispute. Infact, if not implemented well, it could well be another source of a flare up over the dwindling resources of the once-abundant Lake Victoria. In all fairness, this dispute has dragged on for far too long to the detriment of the spirit of the East African Community.
Migingo is an uneven tiny island sitting on Lake Victoria and occupying a surface comparable to that of a football pitch. The first house on this island is said to have been built in 2002 and now, the island hosts close to 1,000 inhabitants most of whom are Kenyan whose predominant economic activity is fishing. By boat, it takes close to 6 hours to reach the island from Uganda and 3 hours from the Kenyan shore.
The whole saga started in 2004 when pirates invaded the tiny island prompting the community to call for help from their respective governments. The Ugandan government was first to get to the rescue of the fishermen and during their stay, they realized Migingo’s wealth. The tiny Island lies at the heart of the rare deep-water fishing spots on Lake Victoria. The Ugandan authorities steadily took charge of the management of the flourishing fishing business on the Island, introduced new regulations and taxes. Offenders were arrested and taken to the Ugandan shores for detention and prosecution regardless of their nationality. This magnetized the attention of the Kenyan politicians, media, and the public to the issue which rapidly turned into a conflict with some candidly sounding war drums in what they perceived to amount to territorial aggression.
It should be remembered that earlier, Uganda and Kenya had come close to a shoot-out over Wayasi Island. It was later established that the Island which was also located on Lake Victoria actually belonged to Uganda. Apparently, the bigger problem is the fact that Kenya owns only 6% of the Lake Victoria compared to 43% owned by Uganda and 51% under Tanzania’s territory. This has created a scenario whereby Kenyan fishermen communities have sought settlement on nearby Islands within Lake Victoria regardless of ownership. This has triggered an immense mix up on issues of proximity, and now occupancy and sovereignty.
The last thing the spirit of the East African Community needs is a “Bakassi Peninsular” situation where Nigerian fishermen settlement led Nigeria to mistake occupancy and proximity to mean ownership leading to a short full-blown war with Cameroon. It needed a ruling from the International Court of Justice which ruled in favour of Cameroon to bring the dispute to an end.
All avenues need to be exploited to resolve not only this specific dispute, but also demarcate clear boundaries on all existent islands on Lake Victoria whether occupied or vacant to avoid such a standoff in future. While doing this, time is of utmost importance. Efforts must be scaled up and evidence from sources such as Google earth maps, the British Order In Council of 1926, Schedule 2 of the Uganda Constitution of 1995 which contains similar information with Schedule 1 of the 1967 Uganda Constitution, the Kenya Colony and Protectorate (boundaries) Order in Council 1926 and any other credible sources must be put to use. Most importantly, the verdict must be respected by both parties.
Masake Anthony
The writer works with Uganda Law Society.
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