During talks at the State House in Uganda, the two leaders called for a speedy completion of the survey which had stalled after surveyors called it off to consult their respective governments on details of the island’s location.
The talks between the two leaders focused on cross border security, trade issues, cattle rustling and losses incurred by landlocked countries due to delays at the Port of Mombasa.
The leaders agreed to initiate a joint sensitisation exercise along the borders to educate pastoral communities on alternative economic activities including farming and settlement as a means of ending the cattle rustling menace.
They also added that cattle rustling would be wiped out if both governments willingly pursued and extradited rustlers who fled across the border.
Cattle rustling, the leaders said, had impeded development among the communities on both sides of the border.
Mr Odinga said the Government of Kenya had embarked on a massive disarmament exercise among the communities along the borders and appealed to Uganda to do the same.
The Ugandan President on his part noted that combined efforts between Kenya and Uganda could suppress and eventually wipe out the cattle rustling vice along their borders. He added that the two countries could then jointly call on Sudan and Ethiopia to do the same.
The two leaders said the pastoral communities would see no need for guns if their governments stepped in to provide security and other services.
During the talks, Mr Museveni said that Kenya had the least portion of Lake Victoria waters compared to its neighbors. He further added that he was keen to see an end to the tribulations of fishermen struggling to earn a living out of the lake.
"I am determined to ensure Kenyans fish legally even if they are on the Ugandan side of the lake, and that will be ensured once we finish this survey," he said.
Mr Odinga meanwhile said Kenya was equally determined to finding an amicable solution to the row. He said Kenya and Uganda were too dependent on each other to disagree over territories.
The two leaders recalled their long ties to each other’s country saying it was even more reason why they needed to find a lasting solution to the cross border problems. Mr Museveni said he had long standing and emotional ties with Kenya, having spent time in the country during his battle to take over Uganda.
He recalled that the big size of the Ugandan portion of the lake became a disadvantage whenever he was escaping to Kenya via the lake.
Mr Odinga also said that with the full support of Mr Museveni, Uganda supported and offered him a safe passage into exile as he escaped from what would have been his fourth detention in the 1990s.
He said that it took him an hour to cross into the Ugandan waters in the middle of the night in a boat that was only guided by the stars in the middle of the night.
"I arrived here, and the next day, I received an emissary who brought me the good news that the President had said he would ensure my security and safe passage. I feel deeply attached to this country," Odinga said.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Medical Services Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o, Fisheries Minister Paul Otuoma and MPs Yusuf Chanzu and Justus Kizito.
President Yoweri Museveni has urged Kenyan leaders to always ensure that they avoid policies that impact negatively on the flow of goods and services to land locked neighbours. The President has also suggested that the Kenyan government allows the survey of Mijingo Island in Lake Victoria to resolve the controversy surrounding its ownership. President Museveni was meeting Kenyan Prime Minister, Mr. Raila Odinga, who paid a courtesy call on him at State House Entebbe. Prime Minister Raila Odinga is in Uganda for a private visit. He is accompanied by Ministers and MPs. During his stay, Mr. Raila Odinga will visit Luzira-based Quality Chemicals Factory in Kampala and Mweya in Queen Elizabeth National Park. President Museveni told the Kenyan Prime Minister that oil prices in Uganda had risen and attributed this development to problems in Kenya. He also pointed out that following last general elections in Kenya, the neighbouring countries, like Uganda and Rwanda, suffered because transporting their goods was affected by the aftermath election violence.
ReplyDelete“Inter-trade between Kenya and its land locked neighbiours benefits all of us”, he said. He recalled that violent crowds uprooted a railway line in Kibera in Nairobi which also affected the movement of goods.
“This is why some countries are working on another alternative route to the sea”, Mr. Museveni told his Kenyan visitors. The President suggested that all Kenyan government officials should be sensitive to the interests of the neighbouring countries that use Kenya.
“If all Kenyan government officials were sensitive to Kenya’s neighbours, many of these problems would not arise. No government bureaucrat would make a decision that adversely affects the movement of goods to Kenya’s neighbours. There is no need for bullying”, said the President.
On the controversial Mijingo Island, President Museveni said that there was no need of wasting time because the border was clearly demarcated and defined by colonialists. What is needed, he observed, is to survey the border and solve the problem. He told the Kenyan leaders that the Government of Uganda was working very closely with Kenya. He, however, noted that some Kenyan government officials refused the Ugandan team to enter Kenya.
“There is no need of wasting time on Mijingo; let us resume the survey and marking, using the colonial documents which the two countries have”, Mr. Museveni said. He briefed his visitors about the ongoing disarmament exercise in Karamoja and stressed the need for joint operations against cattle rustling. The President said that disarming the Karimojong has been successful. He, however, noted that the Kenyan side needs to disarm the Pokot.
“If we do not disarm these rustlers, they undermine the sovereignty of the state”, he said adding that the victims of the rustlers will seek guns to arm themselves.
In response, the Kenyan Prime Minister pledged his country’s commitment to free movement of goods and services. On the escalating fuel prices, Mr. Raila Odinga attributed it to the Kenyan Port Authority which made some regulations that have been reversed by the government. The Kenyan Prime Minister agreed with President Museveni to resume surveying Mijingo Island and said that the Kenyan government believed that the Ugandan government had withdrawn from the survey exercise.
Mr. Raila Odinga told the President that the railway line will be diverted from Nairobi’s Kibera slum. He also agreed with him on the need to carry out anti-rustling operations on the border areas and to ensure that illegal guns do not enter the region.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga is accompanied by the Minister of Health, Mr. Anyong Nyago, that of Fisheries Mr. Paul Otuama, MPs, Kizoto, Changu Ojamong and Shabash.
On the Ugandan side the meeting was attended by State Minister for International Affairs, Mr. Okello Oryem, of State for Fisheries, Mr. Fred Mukisa and that of State for Animal Industry, Major Rwamirama Bright.