Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania have signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) detailing how the two countries will cooperate in the specific areas of interest.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amb. Raychelle Omamo said that the three MoUs are on the areas of Political and diplomatic consultations, higher education, scientific and technology co-operation and the reaffirmation and demarcation of the international boundary.
Speaking at a Nairobi hotel at the close of the 4th session of the Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), Omamo said that education is the foundation and engine of the two countries and it is essential that they continue to cooperate in this field.
“Our hope is that the technical team which has so far achieved 70 per cent of the work regarding the reaffirmation and demarcation of our borders will now receive the impetus to finish this important work,” said Omamo.
The CS said that it is not sufficient to have MoUs without having them implemented and the challenge is to explore new areas of cooperation between the two countries in a spirit of harmony and friendship.
The JCC session was convened as a follow up to the successful maiden visit by Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania to the Republic of Kenya from 4th to 5th May, 2021.
“On trade, the JCC took note of the progress made by the Joint Trade Committee in addressing 30 out of the 64 challenges facing bilateral relations and urged for the resolution of the remaining 34 issues before end of December 2021,” said Omamo.
The CS highlighted that health ministers from both countries held a meeting in Nairobi that resolved to put in place a joint mechanism for dealing with Covid-19 including testing and vaccine roll out. Further it was agreed to set up modalities for exchange of health personnel.
United Republic of Tanzania Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Amb. Liberata Mulamula said that they reviewed the status of cooperation in different sectors including immigration, labour, correctional services, refugees, police, joint border administrators’ commissioners’ committees, public service management among others.
Mulamula said that they are optimistic that the agreements reached in the MoUs will meet the expectations of the two governments and their citizens and deliver stability and prosperity.
“We are sincerely committed to the pledges by the JCC and the MoUs that we have appended our signatures to. I am calling on sectoral ministries on both sides to operationalize and implement the decisions reached on these sessions within the agreed timeframes in order to realize the desired benefits from our enhanced bilateral cooperation,” said Mulamula. Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) from Kenya present at the meeting include Prof. George Magoha (Education), Dr. Fred Matiang’i (Interior), Betty Maina (Trade and Industrialization), Farida Karoney (Lands) and Adan Mohammed (East African Community-EAC).
The delegation from the United Republic of Tanzania included William Lukuvi (MP), Minister for Lands, Housing Development and Human Settlement, Prof. Joyce Ndalichako (MP), Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Dote Biteko (MP), Minister for Minerals, Mashimba Ndaki (MP), Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Dr. Khalid Salim Mohammed (MHR), Minister of State, Second Vice President’s Office of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
