Fishermen in Migori now want Kenya and Uganda to speedily resolve the dispute over Migingo Island and fishing boundaries in Lake Victoria to facilitate a smooth operation in the waters.

They expressed fears that the protracted dispute over resources in Lake Victoria had unnecessarily strained the relations between citizens of the two neighbouring countries   and demanded that it was time the matter was settled for posterity.

The two nations must also, among other things, focus seriously on crafting broader efforts to realize efficient and sustainable use of Lake Victoria resources and the Nile waters by riparian states including Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Sudan and Egypt.

While Kenya and Uganda have had a sort of sour relations regarding Lake Victoria border resources, the riparian nations are united by a 1959 agreement spelling out the use of the Nile waters.

But Speaking in Muhuru Bay in Nyatike South sub-County over the weekend, the Kenyan fishermen expressed concern that the Ugandan police has continued to harass Kenyan fishermen going about their activities on the expansive lake waters.

Migingo beach management chairman John Obunge claimed that two days ago his group lost fishing gears and fish catch worth over Ksh5 million to Ugandan security officials who confiscated them on claims of tress pass by the fishermen into the neighbouring country’s water boundaries.

The claims come barely a fortnight after President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni agreed to end the harassment of Kenyan fishermen by Ugandan security forces.

Fishermen in Muhuru Bay-in Nyatike Sub County, Migori County also confirmed that the mistreatment has not stopped.

Tonny Ogwari, the Muhuru Bay Beach Management Unit (BMU) chairman, said the Ugandan police officers are still intimidating and harassing them in Lake Victoria, creating fear and frustrations among communities that depend on fishing for their livelihood.

During their recent meeting at State House, Nairobi, Ruto and Museveni agreed to fast-track the signing of a landmark cross-border resource-sharing agreement.

The agreement, which is in its final stages, will allow communities from both countries to access shared natural resources, such as water and pasture, under structured arrangements that promote peace and sustainable coexistence.

Following this effort, the Kenyan fisherfolk, through their leaders, Obunge and Ogwari, are now urging the two heads of State not to tire in resolving the emotive Lake Victoria fishing acrimony.

My prayer is for the two heads of State to strive to effect to letter what they penned to bring peace within the region’s Lake Waters,” said Obunge in an interview with the Kenya News Agency,

He further led the fishermen in asking Kenya and Uganda to also carry out joint security efforts on the lake to help eliminate piracy within the mass of water.

“There are criminals taking advantage of the sour relations between Kenya and Uganda over the boundaries to rob innocent fishermen of their catches and gears worth billions of shillings annually,” he added

KNA has, however, learnt that for some time now, high level inter-governmental talks on fishing rights have been ongoing between Kenya and Uganda leading to the two states to prevail upon their citizens to cease hostilities.

Migori County Commissioner Mutua Kisilu said the two nations had put measures through a communiqué to jointly carry out security surveillance on the lake to deal with armed gangsters terrorising fishermen while on their fishing expeditions.

Whereas the Kenya fishermen have been blaming their Ugandan counterparts led by the state’s forces of harassment and confiscation of fishing equipment, the Ugandans have dismissed the claims, instead blaming their accusers of invading their fishing waters.

The fishermen called for the harmonisation of laws and concerted efforts between the Great Lakes states to curb piracy, insecurity and depletion of the lake’s resources. They urged that regular consultative meetings be held among government officers of bordering countries.

“It is regrettable that little progress has been attained in resolving key issues affecting the Lake population because they are not fully involved,” Ogwari said.

He said the two nations have had much talking with little impact, adding that their officers must consider involving the citizens on every move they make so as to realize a change.

About the Migingo Island ownership dispute, the fishermen are worried that the matter is taking too long to resolve.

An attempt by the two States to register the ownership in 2010 immediately hit a snag when the Ugandan officials assigned to do mapping and come up with a report pulled out of a Kenya-Uganda joint work to finalise the matter.

The team was formed and camped on the lake to carry out a joint survey for about a month, seeking to establish the Country in which Migingo belongs.

The team that brought together senior survey experts from both Kenya and Uganda, was formed during the reign of the late President Mwai Kibaki and was funded by the two countries to the tune of Ksh140 million.

The money catered for the cost of hiring an ultra-modern boat from Tanzania, which had self-contained-rooms, computers and Internet connections, accommodation, medals and allowances for the team.

The group relied on colonial maps, GPRS location of Migingo, did actual measurements on the water and arrived at a decision that the Island was indeed in Kenya.

But as the report was getting ready to be re look eased officially, the Ugandan experts pulled out of the team to the utter shock of their Kenyan counterparts, and went back to Kampala. But as they were boarding their vehicles in Migori, some confided that they did not want to be part of the announcement for fear of reprisals from Kampala.

And the report has not been released by the two governments up to date. The report, as was hinted to the media, indicated that even though the Island was in Kenya, the neighbouring waters were on the Ugandan side.

President Yoweri Museveni later alluded to this when he made his remarks sometimes back when he spoke about Migingo, an argument that was however dismissed by the Kenyan leaders in the National Assembly.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By George Agimba