The Migingo Island Dispute Between Kenya and Uganda

Authors

Christopher R. Rossi

First Page

659

Abstract

Migingo is an islet in Lake Victoria, half the size of a football field. For most of its history, it had no significance. Recent adulterations to the lake’s water table in an age of climate change and to its biology in the Anthropocene age have altered the utility of the islet. It now sits atop the lake’s most fertile fishing ground and serves as a strategic off shore port straddling the water border between Uganda and Kenya. Uganda and Kenya dispute its sovereignty. Ownership of this microdot threatens bilateral peace and impacts regional security and economic development discussions. This article contextualizes the dispute from historical and constructivist perspectives, noting pre- and post-colonial problems of border demarcation and modern limitations of international law’s main tool to quite post-colonial border disputes, the principle of uti possidetis. The rhetorical embrace of formal legal documents and solutions to border disputes is contrasted with constructivist interpretations that present alternative pathways for dispute resolution—pathways that recognize territorializing temptations of states which may preclude or hinder negotiated settlement, and prospects for condominium or shared sovereignty, which may support cooperation in the face of looming degradations to the Great Lake and its catchment area. The article serves as a reminder that constructivism presents alternative futures that may yield liberal or illiberal outcomes.

Recommended Citation

Christopher R. Rossi, The Migingo Island Dispute Between Kenya and Uganda, 42 Brook. J. Int'l L. 659 (2018).
Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil/vol42/iss2/2