AT various levels, stretching from residential settlements to nations, the wisdom centred on the fact that you can’t choose neighbours is very apt.
For most part in urban centres, individuals or tiny groups of relatives scout for and secure plots on which to build residential houses as a matter of fulfilling a crucial need–shelter.
It doesn’t quite matter to them who the individuals or families in the neighbourhood are, but of course hopes are pinned on their being hospitable.
In the inter-nation context, Tanzania and Kenya fit into that scenario. They were plotted one next to the other from time immemorial.
By extension, they, plus Uganda, became members of the East African Community (EAC) which was formed in 1967. That splendid agency of regional cohesion suffered tremors that led to its collapse in 1977.
It is significant that one of the achievements for which Kenya’s second President, Mr Daniel arap Moi, who died in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, last Tuesday, is credited, was his efforts towards the revival of the EAC in 2000.
President John Magufuli was one of the dignitaries who cited that role in his condolence message.
So did retired president Benjamin Mkapa, who also credited the late ex-Kenyan leader for having been instrumental in initiatives for promoting peace and stability in the Great Lakes Region.
Mzee Moi’s role on that front was of immense value, for, if peace were to be perennially elusive in the Great Lakes Region, countries beyond it wouldn’t be wholly guaranteed of safety.
The vibrancy of the EAC, which has over time broadened to include Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, is thus considerably traceable to Mzee Moi’s foresight.
Beyond regional grouping considerations, however, Tanzania and Kenya are on a solid fraternal footing, a phenomenon on which the current top leaders, Presidents John Magufuli and Uhuru Kenyatta periodically lay much emphasis.
By way of revisiting the aspect of neighbourliness which we touched on earlier, the borders drawn by colonial powers in some cases split communities that are essentially single.
Happily, though, given the closeness of our two countries, solidified, especially, by the camaraderie between Presidents Magufuli and Kenyatta, the bilateral ties between us are guaranteed of sustenance. That’s one of the means of doing fitting justice to the memory of the late Mzee Daniel arap Moi.
