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Kenya Parliament wants UN to discuss Migingo

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 – Kenya’s Parliament passed a Motion on Wednesday seeking the assistance of the United Nations Security Council to help reclaim the disputed Migingo Island and other territorial boundaries.

The Motion was introduced by Ikolomani legislator Dr Bonny Khalwale and was passed by acclamation under temporary Speaker Prof Margaret Kamar.

It also calls on President Mwai Kibaki “to use all resources and options at his disposal to reclaim Kenyan land in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya.”

In passing the Motion, the legislators said there was an urgent need “to seek the assistance of the UN Security Council to deal with this issue as a matter constituting a threat to international peace and security under the UN Charter.”

In his contribution, Dr Khalwale told the House that government ministers had misled President Kibaki by hiding behind what has now become a cliché to the effect that “Uganda is a friendly nation.”

“If Uganda was a friendly nation to Kenya, it would not hoist a flag on the disputed Island until the matter is resolved and its forces would not then harass Kenyan fishermen in Migingo,” Dr Khalwale said and insisted the tiny Island was Kenyan.

The dispute in Migingo was fuelled two weeks ago, when Uganda President Yoweri Museveni issued what Kenyan MP’s termed an ‘alarming statement’ to the effect that the Island was in Kenya but the waters surrounding it are in Uganda.

It is this particular remark and others associated to him that prompted Dr Khalwale to sponsor the Motion. Already, the two countries have contributed money to help in the demarcation process which Kenyan MP’s rubbished on Wednesday “as a waste of taxpayer’s resources.”

“Why should money be used to demarcate what is already known to be Kenyan territory?” Dr Khalwale posed.

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Dr Khalwale said the Foreign Affairs Minister’s statement that diplomacy would be employed to resolve the issue did not match President Kibaki’s position.

“President Kibaki last week said he would use everything at his disposal, including the military to protect our boundaries. He is clearly ahead of the ministers who have been talking about diplomacy,” he said and added that “the minister’s were not well placed to advice the President.

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