Border security on shared water resource in Uganda: the case of Lake Victoria and Albert

Abstract

National security remains the main interest of any state. Territorial integrity, sovereignty and maintenance of physical boundaries of any country has for long been the sure way of attainment of national security. However, achievement of clear boundary lines between states has been a big question to security and international relations scholars. Whereas in most creation of modern states, physical features such as water bodies were used to divide territories, these have come to be shared resources between states for example, Lakes Victoria and Albert. The two lakes remain resourceful for the states sharing and communities around them in terms of natural resources and economic activities. Equitable utilization of the lakes has continued to remain a challenge because of individual state interests, hence causing tensions between states which at times escalate to disputes over territorial ownership. While usage of interstate signed protocols, treaties, and colonial maps could bring harmony and coexistence among states, involvement of local communities has been over looked in solving and detection of controversies, yet they are in most cases the ignitors of state tensions. This research contributes to the study of utilization of communities in management of shared resource by states. The study findings indicate that local communities living astride, and on the lakes have been assumed to be a negative force against implementation of state mechanisms applied on the lakes such as the physical deployment of security personnel and apparatuses. I propose involvement of communities through explanation of the benefits of maintenance and protection of the lakes being more beneficial, effective and a cheaper way in achieving security regionally.