This archive report was first published on 8 August 2020.
Kenya has maintained its stance on prioritizing public health over commercial interests in its negotiations with Tanzania to resume flights to Dar es Salaam.
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia emphasized that the health of Kenyans is paramount, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a matter of life and death.
"We are not going to put commercial interests ahead of health matters. Commercial interests are subordinated to health risks," Mr Macharia said in a statement.
He clarified that consultations are ongoing, and decisions will be communicated in due course.
Mr Macharia also stated that all issues had been cleared, but being a health-related matter, the concerned ministries will have to agree.
"We met virtually with my brother (Tanzania Transport Minister Isack Kamwelwe) and agreed on everything, including travel issues but, being a health-related issue, it requires concurrence with the respective Health ministers on both sides," Mr Macharia said.
Kenya has classified countries into three categories - high, medium, and low risk - as far as COVID-19 cases are concerned, based on an assessment by the World Health Organisation.
As of yesterday, 150 countries had been put on the list of countries exempted from quarantine, and travellers coming from these countries with valid COVID-19 certificates will not be quarantined when they arrive in Nairobi.
However, Tanzanian citizens were not included in the list, which led to the problem.
After Kenya made an announcement of the countries that were exempted and Tanzania realised it was not included, it barred Kenya Airways from flying to Tanzania.
Mr Macharia maintained that the Kenyan government has no problem with its citizens being quarantined for 14 days when they fly to Tanzania, but this agreement can only be done by the two respective Health ministers.
