AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA has offered unconditional release of all 1,789 Ethiopian prisoners as a gesture of the existing long-standing brotherly relations between the two countries dating back to the 1960s.
In yet another development, President John Magufuli and his Ethiopian counterpart President Sahle-Work Zewde have directed the Joint Commission of the two nations to meet between March and April to lay down mechanisms for implementing strategies of strengthening bilateral cooperation.
President Magufuli disclosed this after holding talks with President Zewde, who arrived yesterday in the country for a one-day official visit.
The two leaders directed Tanzanian and Ethioipian government officials responsible for the Commission to meet to discuss bilateral matters.
President Zewde landed at Chato airport, Geita Region, at around 10am and was met by her host President Magufuli and other high-ranking government officials before they proceeded to the Chato State Lodge for talks.
Their meeting lasted for over two hours, and Tanzanians were eager to hear what the two leaders discussed.
The released Ethiopian prisoners were nabbed after entering the Tanzanian soil illegally.
“We have spoken about allowing them to go back to their country…I told her that there is no condition, we will release them freely,” Dr Magufuli stated.
He said transporting those Ethiopians back to their home country was easy since the Ethiopian Airlines has big planes operating between Addis Ababa and Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro airport and Zanzibar.
“Some of these prisoners have stayed for seven years, let them go and participate in economic development activities for their country…this is a gesture for the good relations between the two countries,” he said.
President Magufuli said his counterpart has promised him that she would work on the matter when she returns back to her country.
Tanzania and Ethiopia have had good relations since the formation of the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. OAU is the forerunner of the current African Union (AU).
“We have continued strengthening the relations in different areas, including trade and tourism,” President Magufuli said.
Trade volume between Tanzania and Ethiopia has risen from 1.5bn/- to 13.5bn/- in 2012 to 2019 respectively.
Statistics indicate that the balance of trade between the two countries has increased from 946.8m/- in 2012 to 12bn/- in 2019, with Tanzania selling more to Ethiopia.
President Magufuli also noted that the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) has registered13 projects worth 14.57 million US dollars from Ethiopia from the 1990s to 2020.
Ethiopia also offered its experts to do designing for the ongoing Nyerere Hydropower project in Rufiji which will produce 2115MW.
“I thanked her for the experts who came to do the design for the project, and I updated her over the development of this project,” the president said.
The two countries have been cooperating in the area of air transport with 75 Tanzanian pilots and 20 aero engineers studying in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s economy is leading in Africa, with a growing rate of 9 per cent. The Horn of Africa country has the largest livestock in Africa, making it the continent’s best destination for leather and meat factories.
President Magufuli invited Ethiopian investors to come and invest in Tanzania to enable Tanzanians gain experience in the leather industry.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Ethiopia leads with an overwhelming 60.39 million cattle while Tanzania comes in second place with 33.9 million cattle.
President Magufuli requested President Zewde to relocate land for Tanzania to build its embassy in Ethiopia.
Initially, Ethiopia had relocated the land for Tanzania to build its embassy but it revoked it after Tanzania failed to develop the structure.
President Magufuli attributed the failure to misuse of funds intended for the project by the then Tanzania Ambassador to Ethiopia.
