This archive report was first published on 11 July 2019.
On a Wednesday morning in July 2019, Ugandan police officers stormed Kenya's Sumba Island in Lake Victoria, leaving local fishermen distraught as they confiscated boat engines and fishing nets.
The operation, which caught the fishermen unaware, was reportedly sparked by the Ugandan security officers' anger over the local fishermen's continued use of illegal fishing gears in foreign waters.
According to Bunyala Sub County director of fisheries Shadrack Kimani, the provincial administration would intervene to ensure the seized items, including five engines and a number of plates, were returned to the fishermen.
Kimani regretted that whenever the Ugandan police officers confiscate the engines and nets, they demand between Sh40,000 and Sh50,000 in exchange for their release.
There are at least 350 Kenyans residing in Sumba Island who depend entirely on fishing for their livelihood.
Residents of Sumba had previously urged the Kenyan government to establish a police post and raise the Kenyan flag daily to remind all that the island was in Kenya.
