Revenge is Sweet: Kenya Gives Tanzania A Taste of its Own Medicine

Kenyan Government seem to have already been fed by the antics from officials from the neighboring Tanzanian Government with regards to how it has handled it’s fishermen in the past.

From auctioning cows and burning live chicken from Kenya, the Tanzanian government was again on the spot early this month for allegedly arresting and detaining fishermen from Kenya and later demanding 1.3 million.

This angered many Kenyans who demanded that the government takes action on the Tanzanian government. The Kenyan government seem to have heard the pleas of Kenyans and has today acted with speed and also arrested fishermen from Tanzania in what has been viewed as a move to revenge past arrests of Kenyan fishermen.

Kenyan authorities have arrested at least 16 fishermen from Tanzania for allegedly trespassing into the country and using outlawed fishing equipment.

The Tanzanians were arrested Sunday along the shores of Lake Victoria near Bamgot beach in Migori County.

The foreigners were then taken to Macalder Police Station where they were locked up but their boats remained docked at Bamgot.

Migori County police boss Joseph Nthenge said the suspects will be taken to court as soon as investigations are complete.

“Right now, my officers are still interrogating them,” he added.

Fishermen from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have in the past demanded that the lake be demarcated with red ribbons to enable them know where the boundaries are.

“Currently, we are just using guesswork to [establish] where those boundaries could be in the lake,” said Mr Bros Otieno, a Kenyan fisherman from Muhuru beach.

The latest arrests come barely a few weeks after 36 Kenyan fishermen were arrested and detained by the Tanzania authorities for alleged trespass.

This fresh controversy surrounding Fishermen will most likely affect the diplomatic relations between Kenya and Tanzania. President Magufuli and Uhuru Kenyatta are yet to comment of the latest wave of arrests.

Do you think that the leaders from the 3 affected countries should sit down and come up with a lasting solution to the mess?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *