Forget Migingo, Uganda tells Raila

By Ramadhan Rajab and Morton Saulo

The Migingo Island row deepened with Uganda telling off Prime Minister Raila Odinga and asking him to forget the island.

Yesterday, Ugandan Internal Affairs Minister Kirunda Kivejinja maintained the island would remain under their control until boundaries are drawn.

The declaration in yesterday’s Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper was a response to Raila’s remarks while touring Busia on Thursday.

The Prime Minister reportedly told the Ugandan Government to respect Kenya’s sovereignty and keep off its territory.

He said Migingo Island belonged to Kenya on a day President Kibaki dispatched Police Commissioner Hussein Ali to Kampala in efforts to resolve the row.

efine boundary

But yesterday, the Ugandan minister insisted the island would remain under their watch until the boundary dispute is determined.

“The joint teams will soon start the demarcation of the borderline to define the boundary. Meanwhile, the island is still under our control as we wait for the findings on May 6,” the paper quotes Kivejinja.

In Busia, Raila said historical information and maps dating as far back as 1926 indicate the island belongs to Kenya and even the Ugandan Constitution appreciates this, adding the question of ownership should not arise.

Kenya and Uganda are claiming ownership of the tiny island on Lake Victoria, a dispute that is hurting the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

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