New fire has been lit in Migingo again stirring the waters and potentially spelling danger for the region.

Right in the middle of the controversy this time is a spat attributed to Uganda's head of state, President Yoweri Museveni, himself a pro-integration enthusiast.

President Museveni is said to have made disparaging remarks during a BBC interview on the sidelines of a lecture he delivered in Dar es Salaam last week.

The apparent reference by Museveni of the Kenyan Luo Community as "mad" and a statement to the effect that, though Migingo is within the territorial confines of Kenya, its waters actually flow in Uganda, set the stage for the infamous raucous with Kenya.

Fury immediately greeted the declaration with swift reaction from various political leaders and stakeholders. Kenya's Members of Parliament demanded that the Government acts firmly and with resolve against what they depicted as a creeping military occupation of Kenyan territory. At a special news conference called last Friday in Kampala for Kenyan journalists to clear the air over the Migingo issue, President Museveni clarified that the statement was misconstrued and taken out of context.

He re-affirmed the survey would indeed resolve the matter. He further called on Kenya's lands minister, James Orengo to act contrite for abusing Ugandans. It is unclear whether Museveni's retraction of the statement is an apology for the earlier remarks made. It is hoped nonetheless that for all time's sake neither side is spoiling for a fight.

On the one side, the joint survey that aims at ending the simmering row had only just kicked off few hours before the declaration was made, throwing into disarray the deemed efficacy of the joint review.

To add salt to injury, details further emerged on how members of the technical team working on demarcation of the boundary were disagreeing. It is envisaged that the survey shall take two months. The evaluation according to the authorities will be guided by a 1926 order in council, the 1963 Kenyan Constitution, the 1995 Ugandan Constitution, and other vital documents.

But in the bigger picture of things, the Migingo altercation is responsible for the anxiety being felt and the politics currently playing out between the two partner states. Regionally, the disquiet is worrying as it throws a spanner in the works over how serious and stable we are in our quest to integrate.

Clearly there is a rift between the two partner states. What seems not clear either, perhaps for my limited knowledge, is the modality of dispute resolutions the region has and what it needs to encapsulate in future to avoid such shenanigans.

Article 28 of the Treaty establishing the EAC provides for recourse. It states that: A partner state which considers that another partner state or an organ or institution of the Community has failed to fulfil an obligation under this treaty or has infringed a provision of the treaty may refer the matter to court for adjudication.

I have few questions and beg to be heard by the EAC. Are there any other steps and procedures of resolving crises when they arise? How and when does the EAC step in? Are alternative dispute mechanisms recognised and applicable in the spirit of integration?

Citizens of both partner states suggest a number of possibilities including invoking the UN Security Council, diplomatic and military means to resolve the impasse in the midst of confusion. Perhaps, one could also seek arbitration at the East African Court of Justice or even at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In the natural order of things, both Kenya and Uganda have however resolved to pursue the joint exercise as the first step, before all others in the chain of justice can follow. Having said so, this may be the right time also for EAC to institute alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that shall in future guide the partner states.

Chairman of the Summit, President Paul Kagame recently gave his undertaking towards assisting Kenya and Uganda to resolve the impasse. The squabble for the tiny fish resource-filled island is now a real and not imagined threat to regional integration.

Despite the fact that the spirit of regional integration must remain alive and that the need to protect territorial integrity is fundamental, the EAC should immediately intervene and find a panacea to the Migingo crisis currently in abeyance.

The writer comments on socio-economic issues and is based in Arusha.