Kenya Parliament has given President Kibaki a go-ahead to deploy the military in case diplomacy fails in the ongoing row over Lake Victoria’s Migingo Island.

The House also allowed the President to seek the help of the United Nations Security Council if the matter spills out and threatens regional peace and security.

In a Motion passed by the House Wednesday, the MPs urged President Kibaki, as the Commander in Chief “to use all resources at his disposal to reclaim Kenyan land.”

The radical move, which was sabotaged by the government a fortnight ago, when ministers staged a walkout, sailed through after the government failed to amass the required support.

There was an emotional, even acrimonious, debate as MPs asked President Kibaki to take charge of the country’s borders.

Efforts by Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula and his Information counterpart Samuel Poghisio to oppose the move, and even raise the adequate numbers to force a division failed.

The two opposed the motion and even said the matter was being discussed between President Kibaki and President Yoweri Museveni and already the joint border survey was underway in a bid to resolve the row.

Similarly, an appeal to MPs by assistant minister Peter Munya that the motion was against the spirit of East African Cooperation failed, as they said the government was not doing enough.