Kenya's Sports Cabinet Secretary Amb Amina Mohamed when she delivered President Uhuru Kenyatta message to his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, April 10, 2021. [Courtesy]
By Patrick Vidija
President Uhuru Kenyatta has invited his Tanzania counterpart Samia Suluhu to Nairobi.
The invite comes amid efforts to amend the frosty relations that have persisted between Dar and
Nairobi especially under the reign of the late president John Pombe Magufuli.President Uhuru on Saturday (April 10) sent sports CS Amina Mohamed to Tanzania to formally deliver the invite to President Suluhu.
“Today President Suluhu has received a special delegation from the President of the Republic of Kenya lead by Sports Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amb. Amina Mohamed" read a press dispatch to newsrooms.
The statement indicated that president Uhuru Kenyatta invited Suluhu to Kenya for an official state visit for more talks on enhancing good relations.
"President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured President Suluhu that Kenya is ready all the time to cooperate with Tanzania to continue and grow stronger relations between the two countries," the statement read in part.
According to the Statement, Suluhu committed to ensuring that bilateral relations between Dar and Nairobi are revived and strengthened.
"The president has assured president Uhuru Kenyatta that her government is ready to continue with the cordial relations that had been set by her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli. This includes working to resolve all pending issues that have affected the diplomatic ties between the two countries," the statement read.
Suluhu said despite the two countries being brothers, they are key pillars to the East African Community and historical neighbours.
She said a time has come for the two countries to revive the Joint Permanent Commission - JPC.
The commission comprising of experts from both sides has never met since 2016.
She said the commission will play a key role in finding a lasting solution to the frosty relations.
Tanzania remains Kenya’s close partner in many areas, particularly trade, security (military), education, agriculture and energy.
Although both countries enjoy healthy relations, they have been at odds over economic and logistic issues, with traders from both countries rivalling each other.
Border checks and conflicts have resulted in occasional unrest and protests along the border which escalated during the late President John Pombe Magufuli's regime.
Though the presidents of the two sides had visited either side amid efforts to ease the tensions, things seem to have gotten out the latest being during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Since Magufuli assumed office in 2015, Kenya has on various occasions written protest letters against how Magufuli’s regime had acted on certain aspects.
In 2017, the two neighbours were at odds when Tanzania police set ablaze 6,400 day old chicks to death.
The chicks had allegedly been illegally imported from Kenya.
The chicks worth Tsh12.5 million (about $5,570) were impounded at the northern Namanga border post before being set alight.
A few months later, diplomatic tensions threatened to flare up over pastures for cattle belonging to the Maasai community who live on the two sides of the border.
This came after President John Magufuli said his country was not grazing land for the neighbouring countries' cows.
Kenya in its letter said the "hostile actions” against its citizens and their business interests risked soiling historical relations between the two neighbours.
But Magufuli in his response said his government would continue to confiscate and auction livestock that crosses the border into Tanzania illegally.
“Tanzania is not a feeding farm for animals from other countries and that is why we have stated that we are going to take action as per the law,” he said.
The tensions escalated to 2018, where Magufuli’s regime imposed a 25 per cent import duty on Kenyan confectionery.
Kenya, on the other hand, banned Tanzanian tour vans from accessing the Maasai Mara National Reserve, arguing that the neighbour had banned Kenyan operators from accessing the Serengeti National Park.
This is despite the fact that when Magufuli arrived in the country in 2016 for a two-day state visit had promised to renew and strengthen ties.
On this historic first visit to Kenya, Magufuli was accorded full military honours complete with a 21-gun salute.
Despite the fact that Magufuli’s visit was termed crucial in debunking myths of animosity and sore relationship, tensions remained.
In 2019, Tanzania threatened diplomatic action against Kenya following incitement remarks by Starehe MP Charles Jaguar against foreign investors.
During a debate in Parliament, the legislators said Kenya should not only distance itself from the sentiments but must also prove action against the MP.
Opposition leader Freeman Mbowe told the Parliament that though Jaguar had uttered the words as an individual person, such cannot be ignored as it can easily put the lives of Tanzanians who have invested in the country.
But in a swift move to ease the tension, President Uhuru Kenyatta paid a private visit to Magufuli at his Chato home before they publicly declared their commitment to herald new relations.
As a sign of this commitment, Magufuli sent four peacocks to Nairobi saying they signified the love, unity and brotherhood between the people of the two countries.
The two countries yet again plunged into another diplomatic row triggered by different approaches to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
While border closure is used diplomatically as a hostile action, Kenya closed its border with Tanzania in measures aimed at containing the Covid-19.
Uhuru while making the announcement that also affected Somalia said the closure was necessitated by the increase in imported cases of the disease.
Tanzania reciprocated and ordered that Kenyan trucks should not be allowed to cross into Tanzania.
Normalcy was later restored after Uhuru and Magufuli agreed to end the border rift.
The two heads of state agreed to let transport ministries from the countries together with heads of border regions deal with the situation.
In August last year, Tanzania banned four Kenyan airlines from its territory.
The affected airlines included Kenya Airways-KQ, Fly540, Air Kenya Express and Safarilink Aviation.
The move according to Tanzanian authorities was a reciprocation after Tanzania was left out in the list of countries whose people were allowed to travel into Kenya when international flights would resume.
"The Authority regrets to inform you that, on a reciprocal basis, the Tanzanian Government has decided to nullify its approval for Kenya Airways flights between Nairobi and Dar/Kilimanjaro/Zanzibar effective August 1, 2020, until further notice," the letter said.
A month later, Kenya in a tactical retreat bowed to the pressure and added Tanzania to its Covid-19 safe list of countries whose citizens are exempted from a mandatory two-week quarantine.
Before the two sides would meet to ease the tensions, Magufuli was pronounced dead.
Suluhu who was then Vice President was sworn in as the president.
President Suluhu is this Sunday (April 11) expected in Uganda for talks that will likely culminate into signing the much-awaited investment in oil and gas deal.
This will be the first official state visit to a foreign country after taking over the reins of power.
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