Kenyan fishermen along Migingo Island have decried torture by Uganda
police marine officers.
The fishermen allege that the marine officers arrest and detain
them for weeks without trial which affects their livelihoods.
While attending a harmonizing meeting at the Namayingo district
headquarters on Tuesday, the fishermen allege that the lake has boundaries
separating both countries, which are well known to the security operatives
within the area. They are however surprised that the marine officers cross the
demarcated areas to arrest them.
Okumu Josephat, a fisherman alleges that he was last week battered
and detained by marine officers for three days.
“The Ugandan police officers arrested me last week, but instead of
explaining to me the different charges as to why I was being detained, they
instead battered me for close to four days until I was released on Friday,” he
says.
Edward Oremo, the chairman of the beach management unit in Homa Bay County who
represented the Kenyan fishermen says that cases of torture have been raised
against Uganda police leadership, but the situation has not changed.
Oremo adds that on Monday night, the police canned 9 Kenyan fishermen, and left
them to lie along the lake shores, prompting them to approach the district
leadership for a solution to curb the torture cases, which he says might breed
insecurity in the area.
//cue in: “very unique incident…
Cue out…not done again,”.
Opiira says that they have harmonized to ensure security on the island through
information sharing between Uganda police and Kenyan security officers.
He adds that all fishermen operating on the island have been tasked to register
with Uganda police to avoid piracy.
