President William Ruto has apologized to Tanzania amid rising tensions between Kenyans and Tanzanians.
Speaking on Wednesday, May 28, during the National Prayer Breakfast held at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, the President asked Tanzanians to forgive Kenyans.
“Our neighbors from Tanzania, if we have wronged you in any way, forgive us,” said Ruto.
The Head of State also apologized to Uganda and the young people in the country for any misstep.
“Our friends from Uganda, if there is anything that Kenyans have done that is not right, we want to apologize. To our children, if there is any misstep, we apologize. We want to build relationships that will move our countries forward,” Ruto added.
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This comes following a tiff between Kenya and Tanzania after seven activists were deported from Tanzania, where they had traveled to attend the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
While PLP party leader Martha Karua, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, and four other activists were denied entry into Tanzania, activist Boniface Mwangi was arrested, held incommunicado, and tortured before being deported back to Kenya.
The activist was abandoned by Tanzanian authorities at the coastal town of Ukunda early Thursday morning, May 22.
The incident prompted widespread condemnation from Kenya, regional bodies, and international human rights organizations.
President Samia Suluhu has since claimed that the activists were meddling with the internal affairs of Tanzania with the aim of destabilizing the neighboring country.
"We have started seeing activists from our region invading and getting involved in our internal issues. If they have been controlled in their country, let them not come to mess ours," she said.
On Monday, May 26, Tanzanian MPs called out Kenyans over abusing President Suluhu following the deportation of Kenyan activists.
MP Joseph Musukuma opined that Tanzania had outperformed Kenya in everything, therefore, there was nothing they could learn from Kenya.
"There is nothing that Tanzania can learn from Kenya. We are better than them in politics. We are cleverer. I know that we are not leading in English, but we have our lives. We want to ask our police not to let these people come and destroy our country," he stated.
