The Tanzanian government has hit back at President William Ruto’s controversial remarks regarding Kenya’s infrastructure compared with other East African nations.
Ruto, during a church service on April 19, defended Kenya’s high fuel prices, stating that the country, as a middle-income economy, carries a heavier burden in maintaining its road network.
He said Kenya has about 20,000 kilometres of tarmacked roads, claiming that this exceeds the combined total of neighbouring countries, including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Kenya is a middle-income country. Our neighbours are the least developed countries. If you want to compare Kenya with others, compare Kenya with other middle-income countries,” said Ruto.
Adding, “If you add the number of kilometres in Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, it is not 20,000 km, so the 20,000 kilometres we have in Kenya is more than all the tarmac in all the other 7 countries in East Africa.”
According to the president, this scale of compared to other East African countries.
However, just a day later, President Sami Suluhu’s administration dismissed his remarks that fellow East African countries were lagging, terming Ruto’s claims as false and misleading.
In a response on Tuesday, April 21, a Tanzanian minister clarified that their country alone has 16,000 kilometres of tarmac roads, 4000 kilometres short of Kenya’s.
He went on to state that when combined with other East African nations, the total tarmacked road network exceeds 22,000 kilometres, compared to Ruto’s allegations of 20,000 kilometres.
“It must be known that Tanzania is a middle-low income country, and in East Africa, we are only two countries, Tanzania and Kenya. Tanzania has a total of 16,000 kilometres of tarmac roads in both urban and rural areas,” said the minister.
“So those figures belittling us as other East African countries, those figures mentioned are untrue,” the Tanzanian minister added.
Tanzania’s counter-response to Ruto’s allegations has sparked a fresh wave of amidst the ongoing global fuel crisis.