Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter and a section of Kenyan delegates were Wednesday denied access into a port in Tanzania and their passports confiscated by officials in the neighbouring country.
Keter, who was in the company of Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau, his Energy counterpart, Joseph Njoroge and Lapsset CEO Sylvester Kasuku were forced to stay for over one hour without their travel documents under unclear cirmcumstance.
“We are basically captives here. They have refused to give us back our passports for about one hour. They have also refused us entry into the port of Tanga,” PS Kamau was quoted by the Nation.
The Kenyan delegates were together with Ugandan officials at the Tanzanian port, where they had gone to inspect the proposed Ugandan oil pipeline, with stakeholders deliberating on whether the pipe should pass through Lamu Port (Kenya) or Tanga Port (Tanzania).
In an interesting twist, the Ugandan delegates were allowed into the port with no harassment at all.
“They only allowed the Uganda delegation into the port,” the PS added.
Keter had jetted into Tanzania from Lamu where they were also inspecting the port.
It is speculated that the move by Tanzania to block the Kenyan officials was a revenge mission after Kenya failed to invite its officials to the Lamu port inspection, and also the recent talks between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Uganda President Yoweri Museveni.
According to reports, Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohammed indicated that she was in communication with the Kenyan High Commissioner to Dar es Salaam, Chirau Mwakwere, to resolve the mishap.
However, Mr Makwere told the Nation that he had no information concerning the incident.
On Monday, President Museveni was in Kenya to discuss the construction of the pipeline with President Kenyatta, but the two failed to reach a substantial agreement.
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