President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Tanzanian counterpart John Pombe Magufuli on Friday called upon their respective Cabinet Secretaries to meet and solve the disputes between the two neighboring countries.
The two, who met at the Lake Victoria Resort of Munyonyo on the outskirts of Uganda's capital Kampala, admitted that the two nations had been at odds over trade and bilateral issues but affirmed that it had not affected their personal relationship.
“We have small issues relating to businesses and trade between Kenya and Tanzania. we want Ministers to meet urgently and resolve these issues,"
"These are small matters that should be resolved quickly. As leaders, we don’t have a problem. We are okay," President Magufuli noted.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta and John Magufuli (Tanzania)"]
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President Kenyatta reiterated Magufuli's remarks and further assigned Cabinet Secretaries Peter Munya (East African Community and Northern Corridor Development) and Monica Juma (Foreign Affairs) to deal with the issue.
He asked them to pick a date for the meeting with their Tanzanian counterparts.
Their remarks come in the wake of Tanzanian Government's move to confiscate chicks from Kenya claiming they had bird flu. Magufuli's government also auctioned cows belonging to Kenyans over territorial differences.
Additionally, Tanzanian customs officials have been accused of harassing Kenyan travelers and traders at the Isibania border post in Migori county
The two heads of state agreed that the growth of one of their countries guarantees that of the other.
[caption caption="Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and John Magufuli (Tanzania)"]
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They also expressed commitment to regional cooperation, and especially to smoothen people-to-people relations, seen as critical to promoting booming trade.
