President Jakaya Kikwete addresses a joint session of National Assembly, Senate and East Africa Legislative Assembly members at Parliament buildings in Nairobi yesterday. PHOTO | CORRESPONDENT
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With 19 days to the elections, President Kikwete’s farewell address to Kenyans via their elected representatives was laced with memories of his role in setting up a coalition government and ending the post-election violence and a strong emphasis on the ties between the two countries.
Nairobi. President Jakaya Kikwete told the Kenyan parliament yesterday that Tanzania’s policy and cooperation with Kenya would not change even after he leaves office after the October 25 General Election.
With 19 days to the elections, President Kikwete’s farewell address to Kenyans via their elected representatives was laced with memories of his role in setting up a coalition government and ending the post-election violence and a strong emphasis on the ties between the two countries.
“I know there is anxiety about what will happen in Tanzania after the elections. Tanzania’s policy towards Kenya will remain the same. I don’t see anyone that can change that,” said President Kikwete in his first address to Kenya’s parliament. He lightheartedly told the MPs that the next time they meet him, he would be a prominent Tanzania citizen along other retired presidents. “I came here to bid you farewell and give you assurance that Tanzania will remain the same in its relationship to Kenya. If anything, it will get stronger,” he added.
President Kikwete recalled carrying messages between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga in the tough negotiations whose result was the formation of the coalition government that oversaw the enactment of a new Constitution in 2010.
“Kenya’s problems are our problems, and that’s why after the sad violence after the elections in 2007, I didn’t want to be invited. I came over,” he added. He also spoke of a request by President Kibaki not to leave until the violence had been brought to an end and his reluctance to heed the request.
“I told him I can’t stay too long. We can’t have two presidents in Kenya,” President Kikwete said he told President Kibaki.
The National Assembly chamber was packed to capacity with lawmakers from both the Parliament and Senate. Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), retired politicians, senior government officials and opposition leaders were also in attendance.
Also present were Cord leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, whose role in the restoration of peace following the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya was acknowledged by President Kikwete in a speech which was broadcast live by local TV and radio networks. His official address in English was brief and his audience was rapt, without the dozing off that often occurs during such occasions.
The MPs quickly forgot that he arrived an hour and 10 minutes after the scheduled time and after he finished, asked him for a few words in Kiswahili, the language Tanzanians have mastered and speak more easily. He translated the English speech into Kiswahili and coloured it with anecdotes.
“To me, this is a very great honour and I will never forget it,” he added.
But the memories aside, President Kikwete was also emphatic about the special relationship between Kenya and Tanzania, which he was keen to say should not change with the change of government in his country.
He sought to assure MPs that with Kenya one of Tanzania’s biggest trading partners and repeatedly described it as a strategic partner.
“The bulk of our trade is with Kenya,” said President Kikwete as he reeled out statistics to buttress his point.
Kenya is one of only two African countries in the top 10 trading partners with Tanzania, he said, the largest trading partner in East Africa and trade between the two countries has increased 40 per cent in the last five years. He said Tanzania imports $333.6 million worth of goods from Kenya per year and said the business environment in his country is good. There is $1.685 billion worth of Kenyan investments in Tanzania, said the President.
“Investment is safe in Tanzania,” he said. “No fear of nationalisation. Tumeacha hayo maneno (We have finished that business),” he added.
Kenya and Tanzania have not been the best of friends, with one of the biggest disputes in recent years a tiff over tourism, with Kenya banning Tanzanian tour vans while Tanzania cut the number of Kenya Airways flights drastically in a reciprocal move. Kenyan travellers to Tanzania are asked to produce yellow fever certificates while those going to do business there are charged $200.
