Migingo Island: A rocky marriage between Uganda and Kenya
MIGINGO: A r ounded r ocky outcrop c overed w ith me tallic shacks, Migingo Island rises out of t he w aters of L ake V ictoria like an iron-plated turtle.
The d ensely po pulated is land is ba rely a q uarter of a h ectare large, its residents crammed into a hodge-podge of corrugated-iron homes. T here’s l ittle el se but a f ew ba rs, b rothels a nd a t iny port.
Nevertheless for over a decade Migingo has bee n a s ource o f tension be tween U ganda a nd Kenya, who have been unable to decide to whom it really belongs. They were once pushed to the brink o f w hat s ome s aid w ould have bee n A frica’s “smallest war” over the island.
While fi shing co mmunities around Lake Victoria have seen their c atches sl owly d iminish over the years, the deep waters surrounding M igingo a bound with catch such as Nile Perch.
Isaac Bu hinza, 2 2, of U ganda learned fi shing f rom hi s fa ther and n ever w ent to sch ool, a nd said he wa s d rawn t o M igingo because “my f riends w ho w ere here before used to come back home with lots of goodies” from their fishing bounty.
“I do not know which country this ( island) b elongs to , I j ust stay here.”
For fis herman l ike B uhinza, living directly on the tiny island saves t hem f uel a nd a lso g ives them direct access to wholesale buyers.
It was in the early 2000s when the island was barely inhabited -- then situated within Kenya on all maps -- that it began drawing the a ttention o f U gandan authorities wh o s ent o fficials to M igingo to t ax fi shermen and of fer pr otection a gainst pirates.
Kenyan fis hermen in r eturn began c omplaining th ey w ere being s haken d own b y th e Ugandans in th eir o wn w aters and chased from the island.
They c alled o n K enya’s government wh ich d eployed security forces to M igingo i n a move th at n early b rought th e two nations to blows in 2009.
Kenya an d U ganda th en decided t o c reate a jo int commission to determine where the w atery bo rder i s, re lying on ma ps da ting fr om t he 1 920s whose i nterpretation i s a k ey point of contention.
But n othing h as c ome o f th e commission, and in the absence of any decisions on the boundary, the is land is co -managed b y both c ountries, a m arriage o f convenience that has seen highs and lows.
Whether g utting fi sh o n t he rocks of the island, frying them up in greasy cafes, or stringing them up to dry on wires between rusty m etal sh acks, M igingo’s residents generally just go about their own business.
But “sometimes th ere ar e tensions”, a dmitted Co llins Ochieng, a y oung fi sherman who moved to Migingo to “make money”.
A Kenyan policeman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the l atest fl are u p of a crimony came i n m id- September, w hen Kenya t ried to r aise i ts fl ag o n the island -- which had long had only the Ugandan flag fluttering above it.
He said the Ugandans “wanted to fl ex t heir mu scles” a nd began p atrolling t he is land i n uniform and carrying weapons, “terrorising” residents.
On t he U gandan s ide, a policeman concedes t here were tensions but s aid t he i ssue w as quickly resolved.
“We de cided no fl ag would b e hoisted,” he said.
For Boaz Owuor, a 28-year- old fisherman based in Sori on the Kenyan sid e o f t he l ake, ab out 15 ki lometres ( nine miles) from Migingo, t he i ncident p roved that “Ugandan authorities tak e Migingo a l ot m ore se riously than Kenyan authorities.”
The co-management agreement stipulates there should be equal numbers o f po lice fr om bo th nations b ut “there a re mor e Ugandans”, said a Kenyan officer based o n th e l arger n earby island of U gingo. T he U gandan side denies this.
Lake Victoria is the largest in Africa, a nd t he l oss of i ts o nce abundant fish life has raised the stakes for millions l iving a long its shores in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
In the past fou r decades up to 80 pe r ce nt o f i ndigenous fi sh species have been lost, and 70 per cent of f orest cover in the a rea, according t o t he co nservation group WWF.
Meanwhile t hick g reen fie lds of water hyacinth have bloomed, bedevilling fishermen.
Around M igingo, K enyan fisherman c omplain a bout Ugandan of ficers h arassing them, seizing fish and equipment in w hat th ey s ay ar e th eir waters.
Rejecting th e a ccusation, th e Ugandan po liceman t old A FP that it is a “complex issue”.
“The de ep wa ters w here fishermen fish ar e more on th e Uganda s ide, an d th e s hallow waters w here fi sh b reed a re more on the Kenyan side. We all need to w ork together,” he said.
Adams M ulabbi, t he of ficer in charge of the Ugandan police station o n Mig ingo, sai d : “W e just want fisherman to be able to do their business in peace.”
Faced wi th m ounting complaints f rom th eir constituents, l ocal K enyan politicians ha ve c alled o n Nairobi to ask the International Court of Justice to intervene and make a decision on the border -to no avail.
“What m atters n ow i s n ot about the claims by either side, but th e n eed t o d emarcate th e place properly so that the border lines a re cl ear,” s aid Pa trick Mugoya, permanent secretary in Uganda’s foreign ministry.
On the island, some taunt each other go od-naturedly. “This i s Kenya,” sai d Co lins Oc hyeng. “It’s U ganda,” fi red b ack a Ugandan fisherman passing by, with a smile.
“I don’t know who this island belongs t o,” sai dK enyan fisherman E mmanuel A ringo. “These a re a ll po litical iss ues and we just want to sell our fish.” — AFP