Museveni clarifies on Migingo island
Apr 23, 2009
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has clarified that he was talking about other islands in Lake Victoria, and not Migingo, when he said the island was in Kenya and the water in Uganda.
By Vision reporter
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has clarified that he was talking about other islands in Lake Victoria, and not Migingo, when he said the island was in Kenya and the water in Uganda.
Museveni was yesterday quoted as saying that Migingo is in Kenya when he addressed the launch of the Smart Partnership national dialogue at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
“I was talking about regional integration and smart cooperation,†he told The New Vision yesterday.
“I gave an example of some islands where, when you read the colonial documents, you find that the border runs from the northern tip over the western shore to the southern tip. How do you manage this? Through smart dialogue,†he said.
He said he was referring to islands such as Ilemba and Mageta, not Migingo. The President pointed out that the Constitution of Uganda is clear about the country’s boundaries.
“The Constitution under the Second Schedule describes all the borders of Uganda, taken straight from the colonial documents such as the 1926 British Order in Council.â€
According to the 1926 British Order in Council, the Kenya-Uganda boundary begins in Lake Victoria at the Tanzania tripoint, which is located on the first parallel south, and runs through Lake Victoria to the mouth of the Sio River.
Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa reiterated that Uganda and Kenya had agreed to carry out a joint remarking of the border to resolve the wrangle over the ownership of Migingo.
He said it was not yet clear who the island belongs to. Therefore, neither Kenya nor Uganda could claim the island at this moment, he said.
“We are making sure that the remarking is carried out quickly so that the matter of where Migingo Island falls can be resolved.
Uganda will accept the results of the remarking exercise,†he stated.
The tiny island in Lake Victoria has threatened relations between the two countries.
Last week, rioting youth in Kibera slums uprooted the railway line, protesting what they called Uganda’s continued illegal occupation of Migingo, causing Uganda-bound cargo to be stuck in Nairobi and Mombasa.
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has clarified that he was talking about other islands in Lake Victoria, and not Migingo, when he said the island was in Kenya and the water in Uganda.
Museveni was yesterday quoted as saying that Migingo is in Kenya when he addressed the launch of the Smart Partnership national dialogue at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
“I was talking about regional integration and smart cooperation,†he told The New Vision yesterday.
“I gave an example of some islands where, when you read the colonial documents, you find that the border runs from the northern tip over the western shore to the southern tip. How do you manage this? Through smart dialogue,†he said.
He said he was referring to islands such as Ilemba and Mageta, not Migingo. The President pointed out that the Constitution of Uganda is clear about the country’s boundaries.
“The Constitution under the Second Schedule describes all the borders of Uganda, taken straight from the colonial documents such as the 1926 British Order in Council.â€
According to the 1926 British Order in Council, the Kenya-Uganda boundary begins in Lake Victoria at the Tanzania tripoint, which is located on the first parallel south, and runs through Lake Victoria to the mouth of the Sio River.
Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa reiterated that Uganda and Kenya had agreed to carry out a joint remarking of the border to resolve the wrangle over the ownership of Migingo.
He said it was not yet clear who the island belongs to. Therefore, neither Kenya nor Uganda could claim the island at this moment, he said.
“We are making sure that the remarking is carried out quickly so that the matter of where Migingo Island falls can be resolved.
Uganda will accept the results of the remarking exercise,†he stated.
The tiny island in Lake Victoria has threatened relations between the two countries.
Last week, rioting youth in Kibera slums uprooted the railway line, protesting what they called Uganda’s continued illegal occupation of Migingo, causing Uganda-bound cargo to be stuck in Nairobi and Mombasa.