A row is brewing between Kenya and Uganda following Tuesday's arrest of two Independent, Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials on Migingo Island on Lake Victoria by Uganda security officers manning the island.
The Ugandan security officers stopped ongoing voter registration, saying the IEBC officials went to the Island without their knowledge while aware the ownership of the island is still under dispute.
Two Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission clerks were arrested and their equipment confiscated as they registered Kenyans.
Migingo Island Beach Management Unit chairman John Obunge said the clerks had registered 20 voters.
Ugandan officers allegedly demanded that the Kenyan government communicate with Uganda before registration.
“They said the two clerks should have produced their passports before entering the island,” Obunge said.
He said it took the intervention of Kenyan officers stationed at Ugingo Island, 200m away, to have the two released.
Nyatike IEBC coordinator Samuel Ochieng said: “They demanded a letter written to the Ugandan government by Kenyans government allowing us to conduct the voter registration process."
Ochieng lauded effort made by security personnel from Kenya to convince their counterparts from Uganda to allow them continue with the registration process.
“We are optimistic that negotiation process will bare fruit so that they can continue with the exercise,” he said.
