Quick research I did on “why it is called “Indian Ocean” brought the following entries- Ai Overview: “The Indian Ocean is named after India because of its central location and long coastline, which made the country the main reference point for early explorers. Historically, India was a major maritime hub for international trade, and European powers approaching Asia through this ocean consistently named it accordingly”.
Wikipedia: “The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world’s five oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi) or approximately 20% of the water area of earth’s surface. The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515, when the Latin form Oceanus Orientalis Indicus (Indian Eastern Ocean) is attested, named after India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the Eastern Ocean, a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century, as opposed to the Western Ocean (Atlantic) before the Pacific was surmised. In modern times, the name Afro-Asian Ocean has occasionally been used”.
Thus, that’s how the gigantic water body that separates North East, East and Southern Africa from the Arabian peninsula, Asia and the far East came to gain its name.
When Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni made a claim for access to the this international water body, many thought he was being adventurous and trying to forcefully take what belongs to India, or Kenya-which lies between landlocked Uganda and the ocean. That ocean by any other name would remain an ocean-lack of access to which would remain an obstacle in Uganda’s advance into the future.
The principle that Mzee was raising was in consideration of strategic national, but also regional, continental and international order.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 guarantees rights of landlocked countries to access the sea. It provides for freedom of transit through neighbouring territories and prohibits imposition of taxes. There is also the Convention on Transit Trade of Land-locked States 1965 backs these provisions to ensure that countries aren’t unfairly denied access to maritime routes. While these conventions exist, their implementation in practice may not be subject to abuse depending on the politics of the region.
Uganda and Kenya enjoy very warm and mutually beneficial relations. The same with Tanzania and, generally, all countries in the neighbourhood and beyond, chiefly because President Museveni ardently promotes regional cohesion and functionality for the benefit of the people collectively.
When he expresses frustration about access to the sea, he deserves to be heard as he represents the thinking and aspirations of “uncountable” global citizens.
President Museveni believes in harmony, tranquility and unity and I wish to assure all that he is a man of peace and would be the last to wage a needless war, despite being partly a product of armed resistance. What he meant was that the right of access to the sea was very critical for the development of landlocked nations-not just Uganda-that if it is not addressed conclusively, satisfactorily and in good time it could spark off conflicts, especially when authorities in the different neighbouring countries are not at par as it is today.
Ethiopia and Bolivia are other countries with unresolved sea access questions whose resolution nobody can predict at this time. The struggle for the world’s inelastic resources is getting so intense that some see threats of war globally over water, air or arable soil-things we take for granted today. For a leader with the clearest foresight, President Museveni would feel like a traitor to Africans if he didn’t warn them about the danger of leaving such matters unresolved. It was a friendly reminder to prioritise working together and supporting one another’s growth and transformation. It was yet another way to hammer in the importance of Regional Integration which many in our population take as a “by the way” whereas it is the key to catching up with the developed world, and for strategic security concerns. Let us also not forget that colonialists irrationally created the borders that separate many of our countries from their God-given endowments.
Uganda is historically disadvantaged by distance from the shoreline-South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, etc, are in the same boat. That’s a bottleneck to our country’s development. Sometimes when there has been unrest in Kenya, the flow of goods has been interrupted, causing shortages and price spikes. Uganda’s fuel economy has long depended on middlemen in Mombasa for supplies which would be more expensive on arrival in Uganda, impacting the consumer. Anybody in Uganda’s position would empathically feel what President Museveni raised. Luckily, conscientious citizens and leaders in our two countries have understood the proper import, mood and context of his statement and, hopefully, negotiations to clear the “great bottleneck” will continue- aiming for timely outcomes.
The author is the Special Presidential Assistant-Press & Mobilisation/Deputy Spokesperson
Email: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
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