President of Kenya Sends Message to Tanzania After Border Fight

By Imran Otieno, Nairobi KENYA

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, May 19, delivered a brotherly message to his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli through its Ambassador after a border war.

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and Tanzania President Pombe Magufuli (right) enjoy a light moment after the former visited the later in Tanzania in July 2019

The Kenyan Ambassador to Tanzania, Kazungu, spoke to the media in Dar es Salaam as the two neighbours engaged in a disagreement over border protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

"President Uhuru Kenyatta says he does not look at Tanzania as a neighbour, he instead looks at Tanzania as brothers, in his heart Tanzanians are not neighbours, Tanzanians are brothers.

"Let's be more understanding because people are the same, let us do business, we thrive, let us fight poverty and get opportunities for our children to get jobs," noted the Ambassador.

Kazungu urged Kenya and Tanzania to bury the hatchet and instead focus on fighting the pandemic.

"Let us continue to fight with the enemy which is the virus and it did not originate from Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Malindi or Nairobi. Let it not divide us but unite us. Imagine Kenya and Tanzania fighting because of a virus?

The Kenyan Ambassador to Tanzania, Dan Kazungu,

"Our enemy is not a Tanzanian, not Burundian, Rwandan, neither a Ugandan nor Somali, our enemy is the virus, let us fight it as it has come to destroy our health, environment and our economy," urged Kazungu.

The Ambassador added that no truck driver was allowed to ferry cargo to Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo without having a certificate confirming their Covid-19 status.

Uhuru on Saturday, May 16, announced the closure of the Kenyan border with Somalia and Tanzania due to the increased cross-border infections of Covid-19.

Tanzania government on Monday, May 18 announced an indefinite ban on truck drivers from Kenya in an escalated response to Uhuru's announcement on mandatory Covid-19 screening at border points.

Long queues of trucks were witnessed in the Taita Taveta border point after the two countries announced the decisions that left truck drivers frustrated.

A number of truck drivers from the East African region have tested positive for Covid-19 which has led to the importation of cases between the countries.