Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan publicly reprimanded Kenyan President William Ruto on May 4, 2026, for announcing plans to build a joint East African oil refinery in Tanga, Tanzania, without her government’s prior knowledge or consultation.
The confrontation occurred during a joint press briefing in Dar es Salaam during Ruto’s state visit.
The key points of the incident include:
The Contradiction: President Samia revealed she had “confronted” Ruto in private meetings to ask why such a major project in her country was announced without her office being aware. She explicitly stated, “He will explain himself why he made that announcement”.
The Original Announcement: Ruto had initially pitched the refinery as a regional project involving Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania during the Africa We Build Summit 2026 in Nairobi on April 23. The proposal was linked to Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, who expressed interest in replicating his massive 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery model in East Africa.
Ruto’s Defense: Following the public rebuke, Ruto clarified that the project was intended as a broad regional effort to accelerate industrialisation and benefit the entire East African Community (EAC). He acknowledged that his announcement had “not sat well” with his host and attempted to ease tensions with humor, suggesting he would have announced it for Mombasa instead had he known it would cause such an issue.
Diplomatic Implications: Analysts highlighted the incident as a major breach of diplomatic protocol, noting that sovereign nations typically do not announce mega-projects on another country’s territory before a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is signed