Why Tanzania President Samia skipped Kenya's Jamhuri Day fete
Wednesday December 13 2023
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan. PHOTO | POOL
President Samia Suluhu Hassan could not attend Kenya's Jamhuri Day (Independence Day) celebrations because she was preoccupied with overseeing the recovery process of the recent flash floods and landslides, said Tanzania's Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi Tuesday.
"At the moment, President Hassan is leading government efforts in dealing with the deadly deluge," Mwinyi, who represented the president at the Jamhuri Day celebrations, told Kenyan President William Ruto in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
Jamhuri Day, observed on December 12 each year, is one of the most important national holidays in Kenya.
Kenya obtained its independence from the British on December 12, 1963.
Read: Kenya @60: Britain's brutal colonialism, cover-up
The flash floods and landslides that occurred on December 3 in Hanang District in the Manyara region in northern Tanzania have killed 89 people, injured 139 more people, left 5,600 other people homeless, destroyed more than 750 hectares of farm crops, and killed many livestock.