Museveni is right: Mombasa, Dar es Salaam are regional ports

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OPINION

By Al-mahadi Adam Kungu

When President Yoweri Museveni recently declared that “the ocean belongs to me because it is my ocean,” many Kenyans laughed, turning his remarks into fodder for online humour.

But behind the satire lies a deeper geopolitical truth that deserves serious attention.

Museveni’s comments touch on a legitimate and long-standing principle of international law: the right of landlocked countries to access the sea and participate freely in global trade.

Under international law, landlocked countries are not condemned to isolation. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specifically Part X (Articles 124–132), guarantees the freedom of transit for landlocked states through the territory of transit states by all means of transport.

Similarly, the 1965 New York Convention on Transit Trade of Landlocked States affirms that no country should be denied access to and from the sea for international trade purposes.

Uganda, like 44 other landlocked nations, depends heavily on goodwill and cooperation from coastal neighbours, in this case, primarily Kenya and Tanzania, for trade routes to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

These routes are not gifts; they are obligations under international law. Museveni’s analogy of tenants in a shared apartment block is therefore not a delusion of grandeur, but a vivid simplification of legal reality. The sea, as a global common, must serve all nations fairly.

Landlocked developing countries face higher trade costs, slower economic growth, and logistical dependency. According to UNCTAD, transport costs for such states can be up to 50 percent higher than those of coastal nations.

This structural disadvantage is a legacy of colonial-era borders that cut off inland territories from maritime routes — borders drawn not by geography or logic, but by imperial convenience.

Museveni’s frustration is not merely nationalist rhetoric. It is a call to correct an enduring imbalance in global trade systems.

Uganda, for instance, must rely on foreign ports, foreign shipping, and foreign customs regimes to export its coffee or import essential goods.

A delay at Mombasa is not just a logistical hiccup. It’s a national vulnerability.

The East African Community (EAC) was built on the idea of regional solidarity and shared prosperity. The EAC Treaty itself commits member states to remove obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, and services and to promote balanced development.

If integration is to mean anything, it must go beyond slogans. The “Indian Ocean question” is not about territorial expansion but about equitable access.

A truly integrated East Africa would treat Mombasa and Dar es Salaam as regional assets — ports for the entire bloc, not exclusive national possessions.

Museveni’s bluntness, though politically provocative, exposes a truth many leaders whisper but rarely say aloud. Regional cooperation often stops where national interests begin.

To interpret Museveni’s words as a “threat of war” is both inaccurate and lazy. Diplomacy allows for rhetorical provocation, especially during political campaigns, but it does not nullify legitimate grievances.

His reference to possible “wars in future” echoes historical lessons, not intent. Conflicts have indeed arisen elsewhere over resource denial — from water access in the Nile Basin to mineral transit in Central Asia.

Museveni’s warning, in essence, is preventive. If the region fails to institutionalise fairness, resentment will grow. Kenyans may joke about Uganda building a navy without a coastline, but Museveni’s argument rests on firm legal and moral ground.

Access to the sea is not a privilege to be negotiated every few years at regional summits. It is a right enshrined in international law.

Instead of mocking the message, the region should engage with it. The East African Community has the chance to lead by example to transform Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and even Lamu into shared arteries of prosperity.

Museveni’s remarks, stripped of political theatrics, remind us of a simple truth that geography should not determine destiny.

The writer is a Ugandan journalist