Tension mounts between Kenya and Tanzania against a background of coronaviruses

View of Dar es Salaam largest city in Tanzania. Wikimedia / Chen Hualin

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On Saturday, President Uhuru Kenyatta closed the Kenyan border to passenger traffic with Tanzania to avoid spreading the epidemic. Truckers must all be screened before entering the country. Dar es Salaam complains of the economic consequences of this decision and Tanzanian President John Magufuli reacted by banning trucks from Kenya.

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With our correspondent in Nairobi, Sébastien Németh

It is clearly a retaliatory measure taken by the Tanzanians. All trucks from Kenya are prohibited from entering the country until further notice. The Commissioner of the Tanga border region asked the Tanzanians not to cross the border to go shopping. Martin Shigella added that goods destined for Kenya must first be unloaded for their Kenyan owners to pick them up.

Since the start of the epidemic, Dar es Salaam has clearly put the economy first. "  If we let her fall asleep, we will no longer have wages. Life has to go on,  "said Tanzanian President John Magufuli again this weekend.

"  We have a common enemy  "

On the Nairobi side , we are trying to calm the game. The Kenyan ambassador to Dar es Salaam recalled that the restrictions were not intended to discriminate against Tanzanians. “  We want to contain the epidemic. We have a common enemy. If we fight against each other, this enemy will kill everyone  , ”said Dan Kazungu.

At the border, several hundred people were also turned back by Kenyan customs because they were sick. They are mainly Tanzanian drivers. They complain that they sometimes have to wait several days to cross, the time to be tested at the Covid-19. Nairobi has also announced the deployment of additional laboratories to increase the number of tests.

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  • Kenya
  • Tanzania
  • Uhuru Kenyatta
  • John Magufuli
  • Coronavirus

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