Kenya and Tanzania have signed eight new bilateral agreements as the two countries seek to strengthen ties.
The signing of the bilateral pacts followed talks between Kenyan and Tanzanian delegations led by President Kenyatta and his counterpart Samia Suluhu at State House in Dar es Salaam on Friday.
They include agreements on mutual legal assistance, extradition and transfer of sentenced persons, and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) on immigration, correctional services and animal health.
Others are MOUs on cooperation between Kenya Investment Authority and Tanzania Investment Centre as well as housing and urban development.
“We have had an opportunity to hold bilateral talks on issues concerning our two nations and agreed to work closely to foster our relations so as to attain our shared vision for prosperity of our people,” Kenyatta said shortly after witnessing the signing of the agreements.
Uhuru said the new agreements will help spur economic prosperity and cement bilateral ties between the two nations.
“In our talks we discussed how our countries depend on each other. Our ecosystems are intertwined and hence it doesn’t benefit us to be closing our borders but rather we need to continue engaging on how to resolve issues that hinder our citizens from conducting their businesses and interacting with each other,” he added.
On her part, President Suluhu thanked Kenyatta for honoring her invitation to attend the 60th anniversary of mainland Tanzania’s independence.
She echoed Uhuru’s sentiments on improving cross-border trade between Kenya and Tanzania, adding that the two nations were blessed with vast natural resources and attractive tourist sites that should jointly be exploited.
“Our countries are endowed with great tourist attraction sites besides other natural resources. Today we are giving Kenya a certificate for 20 roan antelopes and we have also requested them to give us two black female rhinos to enhance our tourism sector,” Suluhu said.