Uhuru: Migingo Island is in Kenya

President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured that the contested Migingo Island is in Kenya and that the government is working to reclaim it from the hands of neighboring country Uganda.

Speaking while addressing residents of Mbita Constituency in Homa Bay County on Wednesday morning, the head of state said Kenyan officials are mapping out the island’s boundary.

"Who does not know Migingo is ours….even if it is ours, we do not go making noise…we do our things with dignity,” he said. “We don’t want to engage our neighbor in war; you don’t fight your neighbor because he has your property. You approach him with sobriety and that’s what we are doing,” Uhuru added.

Migingo Island has threatened diplomatic relations between Kenya and Uganda, after Ugandan Police took over the island few years ago. Kenyan fishers have constantly lamented harassment from the Uganda police who block them from fishing.

Two weeks ago, National Super Alliance (NASA) Presidential candidate Raila Odinga during his tour in Busia County accused President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Jubilee administration of failing to deal conclusively with the matter, pledging to reclaim the one-acre island from Uganda once he is elected in the upcoming polls.

“The government has neglected our poor fishermen in Lake Victoria. For years, they have been arrested and harassed yet nothing is being done to stop this. We as NASA will ensure we reclaim Migingo and support our fisher folk,” Odinga said.