[President John Magufuli with Uhuru Kenyatta. He will be attending Uhuru’s inauguration on Tuesday. Photo/Nation]
Diplomatic ties between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi are set to improve substantially following President John Magufuli’s surprise move to attend President Uhuru Kenyatta’s swearing-in set on Tuesday.
A month ago, Magufuli ordered auctioning of cattle belonging to Kenyan herders, a move that threatened to diminish diplomatic relations between the two countries.
“Tanzania is not a grazing land to any country. If you feel that Tanzanians break law in your country, do also the same,’ Magufuli was quoted by local media, apparently remarks directed to Kenyan government.
And on Monday, sources from Foreign Affairs ministry confirmed that Magufuli will be in Nairobi for the ceremony along with 10 other Heads of State.
Last week, sources within Kenyan opposition claimed that Raila Odinga had met Magufuli in a secret meeting at Zanzibar with details about their meeting remaining rather scanty.
“He met Magufuli and they held a long meeting. We cannot say much about it but as NASA, we are happy with the development,” a source told the Nation.
Understandably, Magufuli is a close ally of Odinga and has publicly admitted of ‘learning’ a lot from the former Prime Minister.