The officials were handcuffed and marched out to a waiting police patrol car and whisked to Busia Kenya police station. PHOTO/ DAVID AWORI
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Fish row: UPDF major, five other Ugandan officials arrested in Kenya
What you need to know:
- The six Ugandans were arrested at the office of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) manager after crossing the border, as they waited to meet some Kenyan authorities over fish trade.
A senior UPDF officer, three top officials from the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries are among six Ugandans who were last evening arrested by the Kenya security officials at the Busia-Kenya border amid an ongoing fish row between the two countries.
The officials include Maj Robert Ariho attached to the Fish protection unit at Entebbe, Mr Paul Okwara, a principle secretary fisheries, Mr Simon Jonan Imongoti, a fisheries inspector at Busia border, Mr Eugene Egesa, the Busia district fisheries officer, Mr John Michael Amodoi, a clearing agent at the Busia border and one other unidentified official said to be a UPDF soldier.
The six Ugandans were arrested at the office of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) manager after crossing the border, as they waited to meet some Kenyan authorities over fish trade.
The officials were handcuffed by the Kenyan police and taken out of the customs premises and marched to a waiting police car before they were whisked off to Busia Kenya police station under unclear circumstances.
Kenya authorities remained tightlipped on the arrest which Ugandan officials said was as a result of “miscommunication between country officials.”
“Kindly note that the said officials are not in police custody. The incident was as a result of miscommunication between country officials. This was however resolved and the officials allowed to go about their business,” the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) tweeted Saturday evening in response to our tweet about the officials’ arrest.
Crossing the border
The Ugandan officials had been led across the Kenyan border by Ms Florence Atieno, the Kenya national cross border women chairperson, to inspect and ascertain the quality of fish in Busia Kenya market with a view of clearing its export to DR Congo allegedly on orders of Uganda’s fisheries state minister, Ms Hellen Adoa.
"We arrived here several hours back. We have been waiting to be cleared by the Kenya authorities to have a meeting and look at the fish in their market but everybody we are contacting says it is a weekend," Maj Ariho was heard complaining.
The meeting between the Ugandan officials and the KRA manager at first appeared cordial as the Ugandan officials requested to have a look at the fish to ascertain its size before clearing it for export.
Dramatic scenes
Drama however, started unfolding when a group of Kenyan fish exporters gathered at the office and started accusing Ugandan officials of impounding their fish which was enroute to DR Congo, at the Mpondwe border post in Kasese District.
"These are the guys who impounded and gave out our fish. They either kill us before leaving here or they return our fish," one trader was heard shouting at the top of his voice.
The situation worsened when the Kenyan traders attempted to force their way into the room where the Ugandan officials were seated, claiming they were being made to repay back loans they got for their businesses yet their fish was impounded by “cartels in Uganda led by some traders who are working with the Ugandan army.”
"We have lost all the hope. All our fish was given out by these guys. We have lost everything, including our livelihoods and cannot afford to provide a meal for our families. It is better we kill these officials and chop them to pieces so that each of us carries a piece of their flesh home for a meal," another trader shouted.
Journalist threatened with arrest
This reporter who was at the border as the drama unfolded was stopped from taking pictures by Customs local guard and threatened with arrest. Moments later security operatives in plain clothes and the Kenya administration police armed with AK 47 assault rifles deployed and surrounded the office of the KRA manager.
One Kenyan security officer was overheard speaking on phone before he later walked into the room where the Ugandan officials had been locked and ordered for their arrest. They were handcuffed and marched out to a waiting police patrol car and whisked to Busia Kenya police station.
As the Ugandan officials were being whisked away, Kenya traders ran after the patrol car in jubilation, saying it was time the Uganda officials realized Kenya had a tougher security team.
Mr David Ogeya, one of the fish traders said it was unfair for the Ugandan authorities to impound their fish which was in transit to DR Congo.
"These men are here but they don’t know how we are suffering because of their actions. We have lost all our capital which we acquired as bank loans. Our property is being taken by the banks as we watch because of some careless actions of the Ugandan officials," Mr Ogeya said.
Another trader, Mr Hassan Omari told the Daily Monitor that they had close to 400 tons of fish stuck in their stores in Burumba and in the market because they can’t risk exporting the fish to DR Congo after Ugandan authorities threatened to have all the Kenya fish intercepted in Uganda.
"We now have a lot of fish in our stores both in Burumba and Busia market because the minister [Adoa] said Kenyan fish would not be allowed on the Ugandan roads," he said.
The officials were reportedly released in the evening following the intervention of Busia RDC, Mr John Rex Achila and some border agents.
Ms Atieno said the interception of the Kenyan fish which was on transit to Congo amounted to a non-tariff barrier violation and that it violated international treaties on goods on transit.
"We have been talking about elimination of NTBs but it seems Uganda is not ready to implement," she said.
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Ms Adoa last month said the fish traders were conniving with the fish inspectors to deal in illegal fish.
According to her, the fish consignment was intercepted in Uganda because it had immature fish that had been smuggled from Uganda to Kenya where it was repackaged.
"They (fish traders) are Ugandans. Now the people who are demonstrating at the borders are not Kenyans and there's no Kenyan fish here. These are Ugandans trying to incite Kenyans to look at Uganda in another way," she said.
The fish row between Uganda and Kenyan traders escalated last month when Ugandan authorities intercepted fish from Kenyan traders at Mpondwe border post in Kasese. The fish was enroute to the DR Congo.
Whereas Kenyan fish exporters say the fish was from Lake Turkana, the Ugandan authorities in the ministry of Fisheries have kept a strong stance claiming the fish was from Lake Kyoga, which had been smuggled through the porous borders into Kenya, processed and repackage by the Kenyan traders.
The seizure of the fish threatens to draw Kampala and Nairobi into another trade row, following the former’s ban on Ugandan goods in recent years, including milk, sugar, sugarcane, eggs and most recently, maize grains on grounds that they were substandard.
