Government officials from Tanzania and Kenya will meet in Arusha this
month to seek ways of sorting out the row over the ban of Tanzanian
tourist vehicles from accessing the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
in Nairobi since last December.
The permanent secretary in the ministry of Natural Resources and
Tourism Dr. Adelhelm Meru said in Nairobi last week that the matter was
bilateral and could not be tabled before the just-ended East African
Community (EAC) in Nairobi.
He said the meeting would take place in Arusha from March 18th to
20th and that he expected to come out with a lasting solution to the
crisis which can impact on cooperation between the two competitors in
tourism in the region.
"This is a bilateral matter between Tanzania and Kenya and we have
realized there is no need to involve other EAC partner states which are
not directly concerned", the PS affirmed ahead of the EAC Summit of
Heads of State which was held there on February 20th.
Since December 22nd last year, Kenyan authorities slapped a ban on
vans carrying tourists from and to Tanzania from accessing its busy
international air transport hub in Nairobi on grounds that it was
implementing the 1985 agreement with Tanzania on tourism cooperation.
At one time the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro
Nyalandu was forced to travel to Nairobi to consult his counterparts but
Kenya only lifted the ban for three weeks. The matter was left open for
further discussions.
It is estimated that about 300,000 travellers to and from Tanzania
use JKIA each year to access various global destinations. These include
tourists heading to the northern game parks which attract most visitors
compared to other parts of the country.
The EAC Council of Ministers skipped discussing the tussle during its pre-Summit session in Nairobi on February 18th.
Sources close to the meeting said, however, that the minister for
East African Cooperation Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe held talks with his
Kenyan counterparts on the matter.
There was speculation early this month that the recent ban of
Tanzanian-registered vehicles to access the Nairobi airport would be
tabled before the ministerial council, which is the policy organ of the
Community. However, this did not take place.
Last week, Dr. Mwakyembe, who is the current Chair of the EAC Council
of Ministers, said although Tanzania respects Kenya's decision, it
would seek a long term solution to the problem
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