Kenya has assured President Yoweri Museveni that it will not block Uganda from accessing the Indian Ocean after he said that his country was disadvantaged in terms of building a navy and trade because of being landlocked.

But Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and foreign affairs minister, who made the assurance on Wednesday, did not state whether Kampala would be granted permission to train its navy on the shores of the Indian Ocean.“We are aware of international conventions on landlocked countries, and what we must do is to assist landlocked countries. Kenya is a responsible member of the international community, and it is in our interest to facilitate any landlocked country that wishes to use the port of Mombasa,” the minister said.“We have not denied any landlocked country that access. And, in any case, what would be the value of the port if it does not generate revenue?”Earlier in the week, President Museveni in a radio interview, warned about the threat of wars erupting in the future over landlocked African countries denied access to the coast.

He said that Uganda is “entitled to access the Indian Ocean” through Kenya.

Museveni said that for years, Uganda has been “locked out of what rightfully belongs to us,” insisting that Kenya should grant Uganda direct access to the coast."In Uganda, even if you want to build a navy, how can you build it? We don't have access to the sea. The political organisation in Africa is so irrational. Some of the countries have no access to the sea, not only for economic purposes but also for defence purposes. You are stuck. How do I export my products?” Museveni is quoted as having said about Uganda’s access to the Indian Ocean."That is why we have had endless discussions with Kenya — as one issue ends, another arises: the railway, the pipeline. But that ocean belongs to me; it is my ocean. I am entitled to it. In the future we may have wars.”

Museveni’s son and leader of the Ugandan military General Muhoozi Kainerugaba backed the quest and warned of “big problems” if Kenya “refuses.”But Mudavadi, while addressing journalists at the Ministry’s Third Quarterly Media Engagement, assured Kenya’s neighbours of cordial relations.

President Museveni’s quest for sea access rekindles that of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has threatened to go to war over sea access.

Just last week, he demanded from Eritrea and Somalia a sea route. This demand has in the past caused tensions in the Horn of Africa, with Eritrea threatening war and Somalia cutting ties after Addis Ababa signed a deal for a route through Somaliland. Relations have since been restored with Mogadishu but Asmara remains estranged.

Abiy considers sea access a “legal, historical, and existential question.”

He reminded lawmakers that the country’s loss of Red Sea access was “gradual and drawn-out” over more than 30 years of conflict, culminating in Eritrea’s independence in 1993. “Ethiopia’s loss of access to the Red Sea came after a struggle that lasted more than 30 years,” he said. “However, I do not believe that it would take another 30 years to restore what was lost.”

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