Nkaissery rules out military intervention over Migingo

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Tuesday ruled out military intervention to resolve the dispute over Migingo Island.

Giving his ministry’s scorecard at the ongoing symposium at the KICC, Nkaissery said the Migingo row will be resolved diplomatically and not through the gun.

Last week, CORD leader Raila Odinga threatened to marshal the opposition to reclaim the disputed Migingo Island if the government does not take action.

Raila said that since President Uhuru Kenyatta has demonstrated failure to repossess the island from Uganda, the opposition will make sure Kenya takes over the Island in Lake Victoria.

The CORD leader accused President Kenyatta of failing to talk to his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni to withdraw his troops from the island, hence the need to find an alternative solution to reclaim the island.

Some MPs from the region have also been calling for the forceful eviction of the Ugandan Police from the island.

On her part, Defense Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo says Uganda remains a friendly nation.

The row between Kenya and Uganda over the island first surfaced in 2008 after Kenyan fishermen were barred from fishing in the waters.

President Museveni then fueled the tension between the two governments further after he claimed that the water bordering the island is in Uganda while the land is in Kenya. He, however, later withdrew his statement following political pressure.

Then Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, however, sought to create an aura of calm in the country by reassuring Kenyans that Migingo is in Kenya, despite the fact that at the time, Ugandan security officers had set camp on the island.

A joint border survey committee was later formed to review the process and bring an end to the stalemate, though this did little to resolve the issue which has simmered since then.