By Jonathan Kirabo, KAMPALA Uganda
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda did not
shake hands with his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli throughout the entire
visit to the latter’s country home in Chato, Tanzania early this week.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (with mask) being welcomed by President Magufuli of Tanzania
But thats not all.
Upon return from Tanzania,
Museveni’s strictness with safeguarding Covid-19 SOPs ensured all the staff he
was with were tested as they got off the plane and later transported to
different ‘’unknown quarantine centres”.
Museveni paid an official
visit to Magufuli and the two leaders signed an agreement allowing for the
construction of a 1,445 km (898 miles) crude oil pipeline.
The $3.5bn (£2.7m) project
will connect Uganda’s oil fields to Tanzania’s port of Tanga.
However, Museveni’s visit
to Magufuli marked a big different between the two states, with Museveni and
all his entourage sticking to putting on masks and ensuring social distance
with their hosts.
Given the prevailing
Covid-19 situation, Museveni also did not greet Magufuli with a handshake like
he normally does.
On alighting from his
aircraft, Museveni stood about two meters away and bowed in respect to
Magufuli.
He also waved to the group
of people that had been lined up to welcome him, without moving any closer to
them.
During the course of the
over 2-hour event, Museveni stayed with his mask on, only removing it for the
time he was giving his speech and putting it back on immediately.
Magufuli, from the photos,
did not wear a mask.
The two presidents also
maintained a huge social distance while seated, unlike the previous meeting
they had at the same venue last year.
Also, while all Museveni’s
security detail maintained their masks on, none on Magufuli’s team had their
masks on.
Speaking about the matter,
Magufuli said that he was aware Museveni and his team were coming with masks
and that is fine provided the agreement is not delayed.
“He (Museveni) called me
and said we have corona but I don’t want it to be the reason to delay
development of Uganda and Tanzania. He told me he is coming with a mask and I
said you can even come with a blanket, provided we sign this agreement for the
better of all our countries,” Magufuli said.
Nile Post understands that Tanzania stopped reporting
Covid-19 cases on April 29. At the time, the country had recorded 509
infections, 183 recoveries and 21 deaths.
President Magufuli went
ahead to declare that the coronavirus pandemic in Tanzania was officially over,
urging the country to resume normal lives without having to put on masks and
any other virus related guidelines.
Magufuli said that the
pipeline project is another victory for both Uganda and Tanzania and it
represents the cooperation that both countries are striving for.
Magufuli said: “We are
going to use Ugandan expertise to search for oil in several regions of
Tanzania. When we strike oil, we will simply connect those areas to the East
Africa Crude Oil Pipeline EACOP. That is the Ugandan & Tanzanian
cooperation we are striving for.”
Museveni on his part said
Coronavirus should not be the reason why the two countries could not make a
historic agreement as the pipeline deal.
“Covid-19 should not be the reason to stop anything as important as this,” he said. – Nile Post
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