Migingo Island: Kenya or Uganda Territory?

Abstract

The Migingo Island territory dispute has been brewing since 2004.Kenya and Uganda both claim ownership of the Island as the residents continue to suffer. There are police forces from both countries now manning the Island as ways to resolve the dispute are sought. Kenya has the largest percentage of people living there and most of them have been arrested and detained for fishing on Uganda’s territorial waters. Diplomatic efforts have been unsuccessful and during the voter registration in December 2012,Ugandan officials manning the Island pointed their guns at the Kenyans who were protesting their interference in the process. It is 2013 now and the tension is till rife. As a peace and conflict specialist in East and Central Africa, I have had a front row sit in the theatre of incongruity that is Migingo. The media has been playing its part in reporting the events but some of them have been biased. This article maps the dispute, potential effects of a war and the attempts made by Kenya and Uganda to break the impasse and reach an amicable solution from the lens of a peace and conflict worker in the region.