The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics figures show that Kenya’s exports to Tanzania went down by 34 per cent in the first five months of the year, perhaps reflecting the negative effects of a trade war between them.

Exports to the neighbouring country plunged by a huge Sh4.35 billion to Sh8.2 billion in the review period while Tanzania has been Kenya’s second biggest export market in the region after Uganda.

A number of things are wrong in this whole standoff. One, the negotiations have been anything but transparent going by how one truce after another is ignored while senior officials in Nairobi report inability to reach their counterparts in the neighbouring country.

But, two, and more important, the two countries ought to revisit the East African Community (EAC) integration ideals, which should be easy to pick out after many years of discussing the subject.

While it’s expected that trade deals will be full of back and forth, such a longstanding disagreement is worrying for nations working on free  movement of goods, services, and people.

Dar and Nairobi must sit at a table and iron out the differences, once and for all.

We ask the two countries to dust themselves up and talk conclusively.