Kenya, Uganda can’t fight, Ruto says as Museveni keeps off subject

President William Ruto has dismissed suggestions of a possible conflict between Kenya and Uganda over access to the Indian Ocean and assured his neighbour of access through Kenya.

 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last week made comments interpreted as a possible threat of war over access to the sea by the landlocked nation.

 President Ruto was speaking in Tororo, Uganda, yesterday during the groundbreaking of the Devki Mega Steel Project, an event also attended by Museveni. It was their first meeting since Museveni made the controversial comments a week ago. The Ugandan president did not address the subject but praised Ruto.

 Ruto said the two neighbouring countries cannot and will not go to war.

 “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 all means,” Ruto said.

 The President emphasised that Kenyans and Ugandans are “sisters” whose historic bond cannot be broken. He said, “Uganda is assured of access to the sea through Kenya.”

 Museveni, avoided commenting on the controversy. Instead, he praised Ruto as a committed Pan-Africanist whose leadership is helping drive economic growth in East Africa.

 “We are very lucky to have him in charge of Kenya and you can see the fruits here. He is the one who has encouraged this,” he said.

 Museveni recently stirred debate after issuing what many interpreted as a veiled threat directed at Kenya, warning of potential future wars in the East African Community (EAC) over access to the Indian Ocean.

 He said blocking landlocked countries from the sea was “madness,” insisting that Uganda has a strategic and economic entitlement to the Indian Ocean.

 “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 also said that only deeper political and economic integration within the EAC could avert such conflicts.

 Ruto, however, dismissed the tensions, attributing the reports to journalists and “naysayers” intent on derailing relations between the two countries.

 “For those who want to engage us in negative talk, we want to tell them, please give us a break. We do not have time for negative talk. We have time for progress,” he said.

 Ruto announced that Uganda will co-invest with Kenya in the planned privatisation of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).

 He said the two countries will collaborate in extending the standard gauge railway (SGR) from Naivasha, eventually linking it to Kampala.

 “Let me assure you, Mr President, that Kenya is going to work with Uganda and other partners for the prosperity of this region — to create a much more competitive region, to co-invest in the pipeline and to extend the railway,” Ruto said.

 The head of state said Uganda remains Kenya’s biggest trade partner, making cooperation imperative.

 “Uganda is the largest destination of goods and services from Kenya. Last year, we exported close to Sh120 billion to this great country,” he said.

 Ruto is expected to launch the dualling of the Rironi-Mau Summit Highway, a crucial corridor that facilitates the movement of goods and services to western Kenya and onward to Uganda, and vice versa.

 “We are not only extending the pipeline; we are also extending railways because we believe that this region needs to move as one,” he said. The President reiterated Kenya’s readiness to work closely with Uganda, Rwanda and other East African partners, notably those that are landlocked.