Migingo: House gives Kibaki nod to deploy military
By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU
In Summary
Emotional debate in Parliament as MPs ask President Kibaki to take charge of the country’s borders.
Kenya Parliament has given President Kibaki a go-ahead to deploy the military in case diplomacy fails in the ongoing row over Lake Victoria’s Migingo Island.
The House also allowed the President to seek the help of the United Nations Security Council if the matter spills out and threatens regional peace and security.
In a Motion passed by the House Wednesday, the MPs urged President Kibaki, as the Commander in Chief “to use all resources at his disposal to reclaim Kenyan land.”
The radical move, which was sabotaged by the government a fortnight ago, when ministers staged a walkout, sailed through after the government failed to amass the required support.
There was an emotional, even acrimonious, debate as MPs asked President Kibaki to take charge of the country’s borders.
Efforts by Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula and his Information counterpart Samuel Poghisio to oppose the move, and even raise the adequate numbers to force a division failed.
The two opposed the motion and even said the matter was being discussed between President Kibaki and President Yoweri Museveni and already the joint border survey was underway in a bid to resolve the row.
Similarly, an appeal to MPs by assistant minister Peter Munya that the motion was against the spirit of East African Cooperation failed, as they said the government was not doing enough.
The motion, filed under the basis of Uganda infringing the territorial integrity of Kenya when it occupied Migingo Island and Kacheliba in West Pokot, seeks to have Ugandan forces retreat to their country and to “unconditionally commit to respect Kenya’s borders.”
Mr Wetang’ula and Mr Poghisio discounted claims that Ugandan soldiers had occupied Kacheliba .
“The basis of this Motion is wrong and inaccurate since there are no Ugandan soldiers in Kacheliba,” Mr Poghisio, also Kacheliba MP said.
Mr Munya said the motion was in “bad faith” since the issue was being resolved.
The action by the august House, comes after President Kibaki broke his silence and pledged military action to protect Kenya’s borders. However, he maintained that diplomacy would be the first line of action.
The architect of the Motion, Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale, was all smiles after the motion sailed through and hugged his fellow backbenchers.
In the heated debate, Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa (PNU), nominated MP Millie Odhiambo (ODM), Turkana Central MP Ekwee Ethuro(PNU), Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo (ODM) and Rarieda’s Nicholas Gumbo (ODM) accused the government of laxity amid harassment from a hostile neighbor.
Mr Wamalwa was categorical that the “wajaluos are mad” slur by Mr Museveni was a total affront to the people of Kenya and not merely “a Luo affair.”
He termed the slur as a slight on a section of Kenyans and warned that the Migingo issue should not be isolated as a Luo affair.
Mr Midiwo accused the minister of wasting taxpayers’ money by “spending resources on a matter whose answer was already known.”
“Whatever your motive of opposing this motion … you must be having total disregard for our people remitting tax to a foreign hostile country,” Mr Midiwo said.
“Museveni has called me as a Luo a mad person and that is unacceptable.’
But, the Foreign Affairs minister called for “a degree of restraint” among MPs saying that no matter the aggression from Uganda, Kenya has a duty to continue with good relations “even at the most difficult time.”
“There is no alternative to good neighbourliness,” Mr Wetang’ula said.
He said the UN will only come in after the EAC, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Great Lakes Conference fail to resolve the border dispute.
When the matter was placed to vote by temporary Speaker Margaret Kamar, the government lost and its attempt to have it placed to vote failed after it failed to raise the required 20 MPs. There were 47 lawmakers in the House.
Courtesy of:www.nation.co.ke
2 users commented in " Kenya Parliament gives the President nod to go to war with Uganda "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackTHESE MINISTERS WHO ARE PREACHING GOOD NEIGHBORINESS UNDER OCCUPATION BY FOREIGN CHILD SOLDIERS ARE A DISGRACE TO OUR COUNTRY.I WONDER WHAT PARLIAMENT WILL DO NEXT IF THE PRESIDENT DOESNT ACT.INFACT,AND BASED ON THIS EXAMPLE,THE CONSTITUTION SHOULD BE CHANGED WHEREBY IT WILL BE PALIAMENT DECISION TO DECLARE WAR ON HOSTILE FORCES AND NOT THE PRESIDENT.OUR PRESIDENT IS HIMSELF A CHICKEN WHO CANNOT GRASP THIS MATTER.
Migingo Island was not originally displayed on maps as it is was only a rock protruding out of the water until water levels receded around 2003, thus explaining why the earliest known settlers there arrived in 2004. It is therefore disputed that all maps dating back to 1926 show it is in Kenya. The Kenya colony and Protectorate (Boundaries) Order in Council, which can be downloaded at http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/limitsinseas/ibs139.pdf clearly states that the boundary passes at the westerly most point of pyramid island therefore it is palusible to say that by the end of the redemarcation process Migingo Island may be placed in Uganda since it is to the west of Pyramid Island.
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