William Rwebembera
10 August 2007
Kampala — SUDDENLY, THE TINY ISLAND OF RUKWANZI, WHICH HITHERTO FEW HAD HEARD OF, IS THE CENTRE OF A HEATED BORDER DISPUTE
"As a child, my mother cautioned me to always take care while fishing at Rukwanzi. Fishermen would fight for fishing space around that place," says Mukirane, a fishmonger on Bugoma fishing ground.
Rukwanzi is a special island on Lake Albert. In Rutoro, the local language, it means 'bead'. "We were told that it was named that because it hangs on the water and swings like a bead on a person's chest. It was named at the time when our great-grand-parents were trading in beads," Mukirane explains.
Indeed, residents in Buhuka believe Rukwanzi is a floating island, swinging and dancing to the tunes of the winds "Scientifically, a rock is heavier than water, otherwise it would sink. Such an island seems to be floating but it must be having a pole-like granite rock, connecting it to another rock at the bottom of the lake," Joseline Nyangoma, an environment officer in Hoima, says.
A 1971 map by the Ugandan Department of Lands and Surveys indicates that the island is in Uganda, three and a half kilometers away from the boundary line with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
It is located at 30 degrees 29 minutes east of Greenwich and one degree 12 minutes north of the Equator. The border, at the other hand, is at 30 degrees 27 minutes east of Greenwich and one degree 13 minutes north of the Equator. Administratively, the island falls under Bundibugyo district.
Rukwanzi is negligible on the map because of its nature. It is a piece of land of about 150 metres above the water. During the rainy season, the island gets flooded, a reason why some surveyors could have missed it. During the dry season, it becomes bigger or other parts pop up, which is why some could think that the island moves.
Ugandans evicted
In the past, a number of Ugandans, mainly fishermen, had settled on the island. But in 1987, the Government of Uganda realised that they were risking their lives on a weak rock which could sink anytime. The settlers were advised to vacate it.
The fishermen were reluctant to move, fearing their counterparts in the then Zaire would take over this area teeming with fish.
"We never wanted to leave because, to us, there was no other place on the lake which had so much fish like Rukwanzi. It was beautiful and above all, fishermen who came from shores like Rwebisengo used it as a lodge, where they rested when fishing in the middle of the lake," says Peter Mwese, one of the fishermen at Buhuka.
"When we resisted, the Government, through Bundibugyo District, sent security officials to force us off the island."
Hardly a year after the departure of the Ugandans, Congolese fishermen had occupied Rukwanzi.
Until 1992, the Congolese kept coming in smaller numbers. In 1993, they were backed by the Kinshasa Government, which established an army detachment on the island.
During the 1996 ethnic land conflict in Ituri, Lendu farmers fled to Rukwanzi Island for safety.
"The island was congested. People would die for lack of essential services like health care," says Robert Mugema, a fishmonger.
Mwese confirms that a lot of Congolese flooded the place. "Since then, the Congolese have claimed that the island belongs to them. Up to today, Rukwanzi has a Congolese military detachment," he says.
Because of the presence of the Congolese army, even Ugandans living along the shores of Lake Albert now believe that the swinging
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