Columbus Tusiime
23 February 2008
Kampala — THE Government is to demarcate Uganda's boundary with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the waters of Lake Edward.
Fisheries state minister Fred Mukisa last week told the fishing communities around the landing sites of Lake Edward that the Government will put up a joint committee to establish the borderline between Uganda and the DRC.
The Government's intervention follows complaints from the Beach Management Units on the shores of Lake Edward that their relationship with their counterparts in the Congo is poor due to border wrangles.
Mukisa noted that the maps demarcating the borderline, as drawn up by the British and the Belgians, were available.
He promised to put the buoys back in the waters of Lake Edward in two years' time. Last year, 10 Ugandans, were abducted by Congolese over illegally crossing DRC waters.
Last November, seven Congolese were arrested over illegal entry into Uganda. The chairperson of the Beach Management Unit, Wilson Kasunzu, said the Congolese had depleted their waters and were now exploiting the resources on the Ugandan side.
Mukisa urged the Ugandan fishermen to maintain discipline as the government tries to revive its relationship with the Congo.
The fishing community accused the Government of not considering the industry in all its poverty eradication programmes.
Kasunzu noted that fishermen do not benefit from the National Agricultural Advisory Services. Mukisa agreed that the areas of monitoring control and surveillance were weak.
The ministry has been borrowing a force from the Police and army, yet they have different ideologies.
"Are police and army officers trained to conserve fish? The fisheries department would have done better outsourcing from the Uganda Wildlife Authority," Mukisa said.
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