Have Ugandan troops entered Kenya?

Posted By Joshua Keating Thursday, January 3, 2008 - 5:06 PM Share

This is still unconfirmed, but it seems that the chaos in Kenya may have taken on an international dimension. Kenyan blogger Joseph Karoki claims to have confirmation that Ugandan forces have entered the border areas around Kisumu and Lake Victoria on the map above:

Last night I recieved news that there were reports of Ugandan militia in or around Nyanza Province and Western Province. I waited utill I got confirmation from the ground. After several late night phone calls, I did confirm that Ugandan Forces were indeed within Kenyan borders.

This is quite a scoop if it's true. I haven't found any reports on it from the mainstream media, but Uganda's military spokesman did confirm on Tuesday in an interview with Nairobi's The Standard newspaper that troops were massing along the Kenya border to "forestall possible spill over of violence in Kenya."

Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni is a supporter of Kenya's Mwai Kibaki and was the first and only African leader to congratulate him on his disputed election victory. Uganda also has a strong economic interest in controlling the violence. Ninety percent of the landlocked country's imports and 78 percent of its exports pass through the Kenyan port of Mombassa. Since the violence started, fuel prices in Uganda have more than doubled and merchants have been unable to replenish their stocks. Museveni's legitimacy rests almost entirely on his country's strong economic performance and it seems possible that he would resort to extreme measures to protect it.

(Hat tip: Global Voices):

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