NAIROBI, KENYA: PRESIDENT Hussein Mwinyi has said that Tanzania enjoys and highly benefits from the long-standing relations with Kenya.
Dr Mwinyi made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday where he attended and delivered a speech at the Jamhuri Day celebrations on behalf of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
''Dr Samia would have loved to join you at this important celebration, but due to a busy schedule including the recent fatal mudslide, she could not make it,'' said Dr Mwinyi in his brief speech.
Kenya became an independent country on December 12, 1963. Kenya gained internal self-rule on June 1, 1963, from the United Kingdom. King Charles III sent a message to Ruto as the country celebrates the 60th Jamhuri Day.
''Due to the good relationship and cooperation that exists, our two countries have also been able to benefit economically, especially in the fields of trade and investments,'' Dr Mwinyi said for example, the value of trade between our countries for the year 2022 reached 1.8tr/-, equivalent to approximately 800 US dollars.
He said Kenya is also among the top 10 investors in Tanzania, ''this shows that Kenya is our important development partner. The relationship between the two countries is historic. Not only that we are neighbours, but also our citizens are brothers, and their culture is similar.''
Dr Mwinyi argued that behind the strong relationship, it is very difficult to distinguish a Maasai, Digo, Jaluo or Segeju of Kenya from a Maasai, Digo, Jaluo or Segeju of Tanzania, they all speak the same language.
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He further said that, even our animals such as wildebeest in Tanzania, migrate every year, he jokingly said ''I have been told that animals usually move from Tanzania to Kenya to get impregnated and then return to Tanzania to give birth!''
Around January to March, the animals gather to calve in the southern Serengeti in Tanzania, after which they move north, and around July, they cross rivers and make their way into Kenya's Masai Mara, then towards the last months of the year, move back into Tanzania.
Dr Mwinyi said further in his speech ''All this shows that we are brothers, the most interesting thing is that our governments also cooperate well and have been working closely on various international issues, especially through the East African Community, the Great Lakes, the African Union, the Commonwealth and not forgetting the United Nations.''
He congratulated Kenyans led by President William Ruto on the occasion of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the country's independence and the great success achieved in the past six decades.
