Uganda, Kenya to demarcate sea border, dispute on Migingo Island likely to be solved soon

The governments of Uganda and Kenya have decided to say adieu to decades-long border conflict. The two countries have planned to create a boundary demarcation soon.

The conflict between Uganda and Kenya is over a one-acre Migingo Island that is rich in fish and closest to Kenya. The new move follows a deal reached between Nairobi and Kampala during President Yoweri Museveni’s recent tour of Kenya, Monica Juma, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs said.

“It is a technical process, to mark the boundary. Does it mean we are going to begin renegotiating boundaries? No. That is not what it means. Our commitment is to respect the boundaries inherited at independence. That is an immutable starting point,” Monica Juma opined at a press conference in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. “What we are talking about is really to re-clarify the boundaries so that people don’t claim what is theirs when it is not theirs either by omission or commission,” Juma added.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ugandan counterpart Museveni will seek to clarify the border, create more border points for legal crossings as well as provide guidelines on sharing resources that straddle the border, Juma said.

However, the focus could be between Kenya and Uganda on how to resolve the Migingo Island issue. Now in its 15 years of tiff, the one-acre island, closest to Kenyan shores in Migori County is rich in fish.

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