1,000 People Live on a Rock Smaller Than a Football Field on a Giant Lake—But You'll Never Guess Why

 On a tiny island on the world’s second-largest freshwater lake two nations wage Africa’s “smallest war.”

Too many photos to load here... got to :

https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/1000-people-live-on-a-rock-smaller-than-a-football-field-on-a-giant-lake-but-youll-never-guess-why-5657026?&utm_source=MB_article_paid&utm_campaign=MB_article_2024-07-21-ca&utm_medium=email&est=1UlhZF7o4Qe6zTZ%2FnzCHrWVENNNOXbZVFWZ4%2FPofwulmLG6SqXzhV7R2IVsZQG58DNZc&utm_content=highlight-news-1

For the rest.

An iron-clad tortoise of rock and sheet metal juts from Lake Victoria, christened after Britain’s late queen, surrounded by over 23,000 square miles of water. Here a thronging mix of nationalities mingles—despite territorial disputes, competition over fishing, and myriad viewpoints—all in relative harmony on an island less than half the size of a football field.

All this began over three decades ago, with reports of fishermen earning three to four times in a day what shore-based cohorts earned in a month, driving anglers to seek their fortunes on Migingo Island, the outcrop in question, at the very source of the Nile River.

The catch? Besides the lucrative and plentiful Nile perch, now in supreme demand, Migingo Island lies right beside the Kenyan-Ugandan border, and conflicting claims placed that lonely rock within either’s dominion, depending on who you asked. The question of who would profit and who would tax whom became the center of a dispute.

Migingo Island has been claimed by both the Ugandan and Kenyan governments but was ultimately determined to be Kenyan.

Migingo Island has seen both the Kenyan and Ugandan flags flown over several decades, leading to controversy.

In the early years of this contest, from 1991, when Migingo Island was still covered in birds, snakes, and weeds, ventures were made by Ugandan police, Kenyan marines, and intrepid fishermen to pitch tents, build huts, and raise their national flags here, because of the island’s closeness to deep waters where fishing was growing lucrative.

As demand for big Nile perch exploded, a multimillion-dollar export today, so did the island’s population—despite the ongoing dispute over whose it was. Fishermen boating in from Kenya took two hours to arrive, Aljazeera reported, while those from Uganda took 18, ending the debate for some. Concurrently, the deep and coveted waters where the fish are bountiful was easily within Uganda’s territory, supporting its claim.

Ultimately, agreements were meted out amicably, and fishermen from both countries were let ashore to fish, although surveys concluded, as Uganda finally conceded, that Migingo was Kenyan; a joint committee (and Google Maps) offered ample proof of this. The island lies 510 meters inside Kenya’s territory.

In 2009, the island’s inhabitants numbered 130. Today, reports say there are anywhere from 400 to over 1,000 crammed together on that tiny rock, making it one of the most crowded islands on Earth.

Life on a tiny, bustling island crossroads means all kinds of people tolerating each other in all kinds of ways. In January, Dubai-based filmmaker Joe Hattab visited Migingo to discover a mix of mostly Kenyans and Ugandans, but also Tanzanians and Congolese. On a land where jurisdiction is questioned, the community writes their own laws; they come together, mingle, and make harmony. “We are all African,” a local official tells Mr. Hattab in his film. “They’re my best friends.”

The spirit of entrepreneurship thrives on Migingo Island, yet where there are profits to be made there will be those seeking to exploit. Among the mesh of sheet metal enclosures blanketing the outcrop are supermarkets, a pharmacy, bars, brothels, a makeshift open-air casino, barbershops, and scales for fishermen. Reportedly, everyone who lives here has their own business.

Daniel Obadha ran a barbershop and a phone-charging station for several years. “I like to live on Migingo,” he told Aljazeera. “Thanks to many customers coming not only from Kenya but also from Uganda and Tanzania, there is a lot of business, and I earn much more money than I did on the mainland.” According to Mr. Hattab, one appeal the island has for its diverse congregation is that no visas are required to live here.

Eddison Ouma, a fisherman from Uganda, has lived here for over half a decade, but due to the long boat ride home he is only able to visit his family twice a year. “We don’t have jobs. That’s why we are fishing,” Mr. Ouma said in 2019, adding that he pays a few fish as a “protection tax” to the Ugandan police who patrol the waters. Since 2004, both police and marines were deployed to protect fishermen from pirates, who, Mr. Hattab was told, continue to dog them today.

Officials have been a thorn in the side for some fishermen. In 2019, Kennedy Ochieng, from Kenya, had his catch of nearly 700 pounds of Nile perch, along with his fuel and bait, confiscated by Ugandan police after he was accused of fishing in Ugandan waters, Aljazeera reported. In more recent years, agreements have squelched some of the feuding to allow both sides to fish in Uganda’s waters, France 24 reported, though venturing out too far may still lead to seized hauls.

Another party to capitalize on the profits are boat charters, who have reaped large sums by charging fishermen, who don’t own boats, eight-tenths of their catch to use their vessels, Aljazeera reported.

Peace hangs between two viewpoints on Migingo Island: Kenyans have made the unusual claim that Nile perch breed in the shallower Kenyan waters and, therefore, belong to them. Ugandans rightfully claim the depths where they thrive in abundance, though the island is undoubtedly Kenyan. Now co-managed by both nations, the island strives to heal amid Africa’s “smallest war.”

And so as governments contest claims over the outcrop, the question facing the fishermen and their fortunes persists: “How long can we hold them off our backs?”