President William Ruto has explained the absence of Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni during the Jamhuri Day celebrations.
In a roundtable interview with Journalists on Sunday, President Ruto said the two missing the event was not a sign of diplomatic rows.
Ruto clarified that the two were in the first place not invited to the event hence their absence was not worth raising an alarm about.
"Do they Normally attend our Jamhuri Day? No. How do you ask about the absence of somebody who is never there?" Ruto posed.
President Ruto said he also does not attend their national celebrations and such concerns never arise.
"We didn't invite them and some just came because we are East Africa. Do I attend the national holidays of other countries? I don't. That does not mean there is a problem," he said
The president further went ahead to say that the relationships between him, Museveni, and Suluhu are perfect.
On Kenya being a visa-free country, the President said:
"Forget, about my announcement, today you don't need a visa to go to Tanzania or any country in East Africa," he said.
"What we did is formalize what was already there before; putting it in place."
Ruto said the move does not in any way sever the relationship with the neighboring countries.
" There is no contradiction between our visa-free directive with our EAC neighbors," he posed.
