Maasai herders. [Photo/MA]
The diplomatic spat between Kenya and Tanzania has taken a new twist after an umbrella body for livestock producers and traders demanded full compensation for livestock that was confiscated and auctioned last week by the Tanzania government.
Kenya Livestock Marketing Council (KLMC) which represents 13 arid and semi-arid counties issued a 21-day ultimatum for compensation after 1,305 herds of cattle were auctioned in Arusha for Sh93 million following claims by Tanzania Minister of Livestock that they could spread diseases in Tanzania. Some 6,500 day-old chicks were also burned for the same claim.
The council’s chair Dubat Ali Amey says the move has left hundreds of poor pastoral households without their only source of livelihood and urged the government to start diplomatic talks over the issue. “Auctioning 1,305 cows because they have crossed the border is against the spirit of good neighborliness, regional cohesion, and integration.
That was an act that has no place in the current global world,” said Amey, who also raised issues with the recent killing of livestock on a ranch. “For an amicable solution between the livestock keepers and the ranchers to be derived, we are urging the government to fully compensate the farmers who lost their livestock and perpetrators of that heinous act brought to justice,” said Amey.
But the situation could be exacerbated by Kenyan tour operators who are saying Tanzanian authorities have refused to grant them entry into the East African country. They say while their counterparts are being allowed to cross into Kenya to pick and drop tourists, they are forced to do so at border points.
The operators say requests to take their clients to hotels and airports in Tanzania were turned down and they now want Kenya to retaliate and apply same sanctions to their counterparts.
“Tanzanian-registered vehicles access hotels and airports in our country while we can’t do the same there,” said Hosea Serem, the national Secretary, Kenya Tour Guides, and Drivers Association.