Museveni didnt need to sound so gross.
Granted he may want to cloud the matter in semantics of 'I didn't hurl any insults' - the tone and context was very telling though.
What he engaged in is not befitting of a head of state to say the least.
Again,that he so belatedly accepts that the Island belongs to Kenya after all,given his earlier posturing as pushed by his officers,leaves me bewildered. Is he selling himself as a mere irritant bent on setting everyone on a world goose chase - just for laughs!!

Having said,that allow me to flip the coin as I wonder if we have contributed to this in any way. Did we stir the Hornets nest!!

In fact I submit that we started it all.
In the height of PEV which was purely a Kenyan problem,we took the war to Museveni by:
-Alleging without any facts,that his army was on Kenyan soil,thereby unnecessarily setting the Kenyan proletariat against him and his country.
-Uprooting the railway,which is Uganda's lifeline.

-Later our very own PM bragging on camera that the Kibera youths did well to uproot the railway,and that as a result Museveni was compelled to plead with him.
-Long after the PEV,we have continued to mess with the Railway line,an action that impacts very negatively to Ugs well being.

In view of the foregoing,did we expect Museveni to pat us on the back while we were stabbing him in the back.
We must own up to our wrongs to him,before we see the speck in his eye.
Unless we do so we shouldnt expects any claps from up west.


B.timer

HEY YOU KENYANS,YOU ARE FIGHTING AMONGST YOURSELVES BECAUSE OF YOUR PROPERTY WHICH HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM YOURSELVES!!!!

No wonder you are giving M7 the ammo to clobber you.....

i am also wondering how many pigs of sty are missing a minute of their nap thinking about the mijingo...


NEVER TALK OF A RHINO IF THERE IS NO TREE NEAREBY - ZULU PROVERB

Yes,tunaendelea.....

Yes that 6% has been supporting so many more fish processing industries and volumes of fillet export from Kenya than Uganda. I don't know about Tanzania- I have to admit. So naturally Uganda has been suspecting Kenyan fishermen of tresspassing into Ugandan waters to extract the 'mbuta' and some of these have been confirmed when Kenyan fishermen have been arrested by Ugandan authorities. Read Kenya's newspapers (specifically DN) dating as far back as 2000 for evidence. Kenya has all the time negotiated for their release,succesfully. However it is not only tresspass ( euphemism for fish theft,if we want to be precise) that has been responsible for Kenya's huge fish landings. But in any case this stolen fish would account for just about 10% of the total landing. The price of fish in Kenya has been better than Uganda for a long time. At the height of the Migingo debacle,which coincided with reduced fish stocks in The Victoria Nyanza,a kg of lates niloticus fetched up to Kshs. 190 at the major landing sites in Kenya (Muhuru,Mbita Point,Nyandiwa e.t.c) in Kenya,while the same would fetch around 80 bob (Kenyan) in Uganda.

Another fact is that the area around Migingo is rich with the nile perch. Actually most of the nile perch comes from the waters around there. Now this is only about 2 hours from the Kenyan landing sites. Given that most of the fishing is artisanal with wooden vessels lacking cold storage,fish arrives at Kenya's landing sites still fresh ('fres fis'). The nearest landing sites on the Ugandan sites (not the island in Uganda) e.g Bugiri,Jinja are at least 8 hours away by the fastest boats in the hands of fishermen. Now given that most of the processed fillets are meant for European markets,where quality standards are 'extra-judiciously' high (they can reject a banana export because it's curvature is beyond their standards),the amount of fish rejected by the fish processors is significant. So,many Ugandan fishermen would prefer to land their catch in Kenya or some Tanzanian landing sites (mostly Kenya because being paid in Kshs. is like being paid in USD).

At the same time,fish stocks have greatly reduced leading to industry closures accross the E. African region,Kenya included. (mind you nile perch is for Uganda what coffee or tea was for Kenya a few years back). So Uganda had to do all it could to protect it's catch. Given the distance from Ugandan towns like Jinja and Bukiri,most of the Ugandan patrol boats would run out of fuel and the 'mischevious' Kenyans on Migingo or Remba,knowing what the fuel was for,would be reluctant to sell fuel to the Ugandan patrol boats. So the Logistical nightmare was real for Uganda,and that's probably why M7 thought to take over Migingo using his military. Migingo has been rightly stated below by Petro to be a major entry point for Kenyan fishermen tresspassing into Uganda. And by the way,the Ugandan military did not take over from Kenyan police,they took over from the Ugandan local authority guards....makes you wonder but I have a possible explanation.

You see in the early 2000 (if you read the same newspapers),Kenyan fishermen experienced frequence piracy,mainly orchestrated by Tanzanian thieves. The piracy involved theft of boat engines and other fishing gear,which is quite expensve ( I have to state this for Jaina's sake) Our police did very little to protect them and this was the entry point for the Uganda local authority guards,who are usually armed. The cohabitation with Kenyan fishermen started here with the guards being paid kidogo money in appreciation for appreciation. But they grew horns and by the time 2008 was here,they had almost transformed Migingo into Ugandan territory. All this time,Kenyan APs were also present on the island. It is only recently that the EA Standard reported that they were withdrawn (perhaps the Kenyan cowardice that Wetangula thinks of as diplomacy).

M7 knows Migingo is Kenya's territory and he has known this all along. When the survey is about to start,he throw spanners into the works because he knows the would be result of the survey. But he openly discloses that all along it has been about the waters (read the fish).

Now @ Big timer,don't get it wrong,the Kenyans in Kibera got it all right by up rooting the railway- what should an ordinary citizen do if the state is not acting. And don't you wonder why the police only watched them do it? Forget about that story of KPLC going to disconnect illegal power connections. But at the base of my heart,I know that going for the railway was wrong,one because it is private property and two,if they had to do it,they should have moved to Malaba because doing it in NBI enevitably hurts Kenyans in Naivasha,NKU,KSM,Butere & Malaba,Rwanda,Burundi and DRC. Of course not forgetting Kenyan industries (and therefore jobs) like Unilever and Bidco who export to Uganda and beyond. But Uganda felt that pinch......sharply.

Kenya's leaders do not know that we have many no-violent cards to cause M7 many economic (and subsequently political migraines.....) if he insists on being mad. And that beautiful (but yesterday brainless) Millie Odhiambo should know better that the UN Security Council is not one of those cards. Moi would have known better,Kenyatta maybe. We should as a country be constantly be gathering cross-border economic intelligence,like the CIA does. I believe Ugandans do but they gather errors most of the time. And going by M7's actions,they are generally foolish. Stupid even. But we are more foolish by not realising.

That aside,I believe M7 is mischevious,while MK is oblivious. Or is it a 'funny' kind of friendship?







Everyday!

@ nanfor,

I would have waited till later to hear what others think but now is sooner. If you are a lady,sometime we can meet over a beer or a jar of busaa.

Still if you a man,I would like to be buried next to you,when that time comes,so that we can continue exchanging great thoughts. Kidding.

Yesterday,I was interfacing with a friend who 'understands' this fish thing. Your points were exactly what I offered to the discussion. I believe that particularly M7,kiwete..... oops Kikwete,and Kagame are always raking their brains over their country's economies,unlike our own version of elected vegetables who ponder over nothing other than suppressing each other (or better still,suppressing 'rival' communities). But given our strategic position,if we only focused,just a little,we would make them (i single out M7 because of his quest for regional supremacy) have even more migraines.

Mind you the road networks to this resource called Lake Victoria were well planned and Vision 2030 (if you have read it) anticipates the upgrade of Kisumu airport to handle freighters (at least Boieng 767 size of planes). The slow implemnatation is the problem. (for instance the bituminization of class C roads from Kisumu to Luanda K'Otieno is due for completion in a month's time. Another class C road from Kendu Bay to Homa Bay has started and is later to be looped with yet another class C road from Homa Bay to Mbita Point (the advert was in the newspapers recently). Other loops are also planned,but the speed is very slow. I can assure nanfor that if the 'European disease of el maintanino' (case in mind is the Kisumu-Busia and Nakuru-Eldoret-Bungoma-Malaba highways) and can be transmitted to us Kenyans,and if the leaders know what to push for in parliament,the current strategic position (and other advantages such as human resources) of Kenya will ensure we remain an envy of the other E.A states. Better still,it may serve as an engine for greater economic development of the Great Lakes region.

Take out the politics and tribalism and we are there. Otherwise the threat of becoming irrelevant in the region is not only real but like you said,is being implemented.



Everyday!

I fear that we are crediting m7 with too much intelligence than he deserves. How can he send his team of experts for consultations without maps and documentation? He reminds me of my illiterate neighbour who kept on moving the boundary on the strenght of folk lore. No amount of negotiations could change his mind. So I brought in the surveyors protected by the administration police. Work,no words,except for a not so friendly knock on his door by the AP's. The boundary still stands to date. Question to consider: is kenya ready to use proportional force to enforce her territorial integrity?

The cunning of the Buffalo