Migingo
| Migingo | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Lake Victoria | |
| Geographical location | 0 ° 52 ′ 58 ″ S , 33 ° 56 ′ 19 ″ E | |
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| surface | 0.5 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 5 m | |
| Residents | 400 80,000 inhabitants / km² |
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Migingo is an island in Lake Victoria the size of a football field , which rises about five meters above the lake and is controversial between Uganda and Kenya . Today the rock island is free of any vegetation , since almost every square meter is built over with huts, and is permanently inhabited by around 400 fishermen. The reason for the dispute between the two countries, which almost led to a military confrontation, is the extraordinary abundance of fish in the surrounding waters. The Victoria perch , which is an important export good for the region, is particularly valuable .
In fact, Uganda is currently ruling Migingo. In the immediate vicinity of Migingo, on the other hand, are Usingo Island and the island of Pyramid Island, which belongs to Kenya . Occasionally the three islands are also referred to collectively as the Migingo Islands .
Development and background of the territorial conflict
Two Kenyan fishermen, Dalmas Tembo and George Kibebe, claim to have settled on the island as early as 1991, a Ugandan fisherman, Joseph Nsubuga, came there in 2004, only found an abandoned hut and settled there. The island is now inhabited by both Kenyan and Ugandan fishermen and traders, and conflicts between them regularly arise. Three soldiers, a dozen police officers and eight marines from Uganda are stationed on the island. Their number is limited by the small area. Young people destroyed tracks on an important railway line to Uganda in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi . However, the current chairman of the East African Community , Paul Kagame , managed to commit the two parties to a diplomatic solution. In the meantime, a Ugandan-Kenyan commission of experts has been set up to clarify the affiliation of Migingo.
It is recognized that the border line in Lake Victoria is regulated by the British colonial law on the border line. The problem: the island did not exist then, it did not appear until the 1960s due to the sinking water level of Lake Victoria. This and the above description that Kenyans settled there in 1991 is contradicted by the statement made by Ugandan Minister Isaac Musumba in a newspaper interview that the island sank in the 1960s due to the high water level of Lake Victoria and did not reappear until 2004. The fact that the above-mentioned Pyramid Island belongs to the state is clear in connection with the conflict over Migingo: The Ugandan constitution of 1955 mentions Pyramid Island when describing the course of the border, the border with Kenya to the east runs at its western tip, which means the island itself belongs to Kenya. The small Pyramid Island has become a kind of "border marker" in the conflict over the controversial Migingo Island: If Migingo is west of Pyramid Island, it belongs to Uganda, if it lies to the east, it belongs to Kenya.
Web links
- Article from Daily Nation with photo of the island
- Map of the area, engl.
- Article in the time “Lake Victoria: Rock of Greed” from December 7, 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/544676/-/u34cmv/-/index.html Article in the Kenyan Daily Nation
- ↑ Article in the daily newspaper (taz) "A fish causes a violent dispute" from April 27, 2009
- ↑ Article in the daily newspaper (taz) "A fish causes a violent dispute" from April 27, 2009
- ↑ Article in the daily newspaper (taz) "A fish causes a violent dispute" from April 27, 2009
- ↑ Der Standard, April 17, 2009: 'Island is nearer Kenya but it is ours'
- ↑ [1]