Ruto: Media twisted Museveni's remark on Indian Ocean, there are no threats

President William Ruto with his Ugandan counterpart President Yoweri Museveni speaking in Tororo, Uganda on November 23, 2025/PCS

President William Ruto has dismissed recent media reports suggesting a looming war between Kenya and Uganda over access to the Indian Ocean.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Devki Steel Factory in Tororo District, Uganda, on Sunday, Ruto accused some journalists of distorting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s remarks.

"I know people in the journalism space tried to create an impression that Uganda had said something to the effect that they need to access the sea by any means," the President said. 

He stressed that Kenya and Uganda remain “brothers and sisters” and called on critics to abandon “negative engagement.”

"I am very confident with the progress we have made as a region. I want to assure the naysayers that Uganda and Kenya are sisters; we do not have time for negative engagement," Ruto said.

President William Ruto with his Ugandan counterpart President Yoweri Museveni in Tororo, Uganda on November 23, 2025/PCS

Ruto added that Uganda already has access to the sea through Kenyan infrastructure.

“Uganda is assured of the access to the sea through Kenya … that is why we are not only extending the pipeline, we are also extending the road, and we are also extending the railway,” he said.

Ruto emphasised that the two nations must instead focus on “progress” by creating jobs, attracting investment, and deepening regional cooperation.

Museveni, in a veiled threat seen as targeting Kenya on November 11, warned of future wars in the EAC to secure access to the Indian Ocean.

President William Ruto with his Ugandan counterpart President Yoweri Museveni in Tororo, Uganda on November 23, 2025/PCS

Speaking during a radio interview in Mbale City, where he was campaigning, Museveni said blocking landlocked countries from access to the sea was “madness,” insisting that Uganda was entitled to the Indian Ocean due to its economic and security needs.

Kenya remains the key trade and logistics corridor for Uganda. “Even if you want to build a navy, how can you build it when you don’t have access to the sea? That ocean belongs to me because it is my ocean. I am entitled to it. In the future, we are going to have wars,” Museveni said.

He added that the Indian Ocean is vital for Uganda’s strategic defence and economic development and only economic and political integration in the East African Community could thwart such conflicts.

Using a metaphor of an apartment block, Museveni argued that all countries, regardless of geographic position, should have equal access to shared resources.

"How can you say that you are on a block of flats, that the compound belongs only to the flats on the ground floor? That compound belongs to the whole block. All the flats are entitled to the compound. So, I say these people are really endangering themselves.

“How can you have a situation like this? Uganda is landlocked inside here. But where is my ocean? My ocean is the Indian Ocean. No! No! It belongs to... this and this. This is madness,” President Museveni said.

Ethiopia, another landlocked country, has been embroiled in a conflict with Somalia over a similar maritime dispute.