Details of Mudavadi Meeting With Tanzania's Foreign Affairs Minister In Uganda

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on Wednesday, January 17 met his Tanzanian counterpart January Makamba on the sidelines of the Ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Member States Summit in Kampala, Uganda.

In a statement sent to the newsrooms, Mudavadi affirmed Kenya’s commitment to work with all member states in strengthening the East African Community’s (EAC) integration and prosperity.

Mudavadi also said EAC member states must rally together and envisage the EAC’s vision, which relates to a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable, and politically united East Africa, for regional unity to be realized.

The two ministers agreed to pursue extensive bilateral engagements as a measure of strengthening and advancing the foreign diplomatic policies of Kenya and Tanzania.

“Kenya and Tanzania enjoy long-standing historical ties with close cooperation in key sectors of economic and cultural advancements. Being one of our key trading partners within the region, this collaboration extends beyond EAC and Africa as Kenya is known to have continuously improved its foreign relations and diplomatic engagements globally,” said Mudavadi.

Makamba on his part noted that Kenya and Tanzania are like conjoined twins who both feel pain when one is hurt.

“We are like conjoined twins and when one of us is hurt, we both feel the pain. We must be cognizant of the fact that within the contemporary globalized environment, there are emerging challenges some of which have deep diplomatic ramifications. But how we address the situation at hand and work collectively towards getting common solutions to the problems is what will move the integration forward and help our people,” Makamba explained.

The meeting comes a day after the aviation restrictions controversy between Kenya and Tanzania emerged.

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) on Monday suspended Kenya Airways from flying passengers to Dar es Salaam in a tit-for-tat move after Kenya refused a request for all-cargo flight operations by Air Tanzania Company Limited.

However, TCAA lifted the suspension on Tuesday following diplomatic engagements between Mudavadi and Makamba aided by the Transport Ministries of both countries.

"This is to inform the public that the aeronautical authorities of the Republic of Kenya have granted the Fifth Freedom Traffic Right to Air Tanzania Company Limited for all-cargo service as per the request of the United Republic of Tanzania, with effect from January 16, 2024," TCAA Director General Hamza Johari said in a statement.