President John Pombe (left) in a past event. He has been having a rocky relationship with president Uhuru Kenyatta. [Photo|Kenyatoday.com]
Cutthroat business competitions and Kenya's local politics are key reasons behind deteriorating diplomatic ties between Nairobi and Dar el Salaam, says Gideon Mamboleo.
For close to two years now, Tanzania and Kenya's diplomatic relations have been severely tested with President John Magufuli keen to isolate his counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta.
"Kenya is at liberty to prosecute Tanzanians who break their law so as Tanzanian authorities," Magufuli said on Monday when he spoke about his government's decision to auction 1300 cattle belonging to Kenyan herders.
But his actions are not unusual given that recently, he again froze Kenyan cotton exports to the country from Kenya, a move that attracted yet another debate.
And Mamboleo says Magufuli's dalliance to Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga is the major reason towards his animosity to Uhuru.
"He openly supports Odinga and we can't expect him to fully support Jubilee government given the current political impasse," he says.
He further adds: "Also, Tanzania want to control business in East Africa and we all saw Uganda striking a pipeline deal with them despite having reached an agreement with Kenya."
With Yoweri Museveni or Uganda and Pierre Nkurunsinza having backed Uhuru's reelection, Magufuli is yet to send a congratulatory message.
Few months after his victory in 2015, Magufuli received Odinga at his rural home and has acknowledged many times that he learns a lot from the veteran Kenyan leader.