the afore promised nerve-calming entry never quite materialized and so i will enter into a brief discussion of tanzanian politics.
first. the situation in kenya is not flowing over into tanzania. the only result in tanzania is closed borders and a place for refugees, but absolutely no violence.
second. although kenya and tanzania share many things such as: ecosystems, mount kilimanjaro, and the maasai, the two countries have had drastically different political pasts.
when tanganika won their independence in 1961, Nyerere, commonly referred to as "mwalimu" or "teacher" was elected president. Nyerere followed a socialist agenda, much of his own making. he ruled absolutely but without much corruption that plagued other african leaders during the post-colonial times. he had many flaws in his regime, most notably his collective agriculture system which he thought was a natural outcome of the melding of traditional african culture and socialism. he did however, unite tanzania in a way that did not happen in many other east african, or indeed african countries. education in his time was free, and in kiswahili, with the result that literacy rates soared in the country and a large portion of the country is able to communicate in a common language. he pulled people together in a way that made them identify as tanzanians first, tribe second. in many ways nyerere's policies failed, but it is a country much more united than many other neighbors.
kenya didn't have this same leader to bring unity. their first leader was kenyatta, who was a member of the largest tribe, kikuyu. kenyatta opened the country up to trade and followed the classic capitalist route for economic improvement, much different from his southern neighbor, nyerere. soon after his election, he was accused of patronage politics, favoring members of his own tribe. these tensions have persisted since kenyatta's time, inevetibly being exploited now by the current politicians.
so after that brief and very superficial explaination, you can see that the tensions in kenya are quite unlikely to flow into tanzania and you can be glad. but quite sad at all of the atrocities being committed in kenya and the disappointing fall of one of the more stable countries in east africa. i hope that if not detailed, this was at least somewhat enlightening. love. annie
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4 comments:
Thanks for the lesson in Tanzanian politics. So is the lesson to be learned that Socialism if it is fairly run is a kinder, gentler system and works best in the long run?
I am just learning to post! Mom
Oh, my dear, almost birthday girl,
You are a master at the brief,yet thorough, explanation for the masses,historian and political scientist and are all rolled into one beautiful being! Thank you for the insight and understanding...Always!!! Love, Mommy
I don't know if I would say it is an endorsement of socialism per say, in general the government mandated/forced farm collectivization project was a huge failure. Agricultural productivity fell significantly and the country became dependent on outside food aid. Much of the project was poorly planned, people were promised good housing and government services only to be dumped in unproductive barren patches of land far from anything. One thing that really did set Nyerere apart was that he readily admited the failings of his program, but he blamed those failures on the government and the people not working hard enough to implement the program, not a fundamental flaw in the program itself. In any case, the silver lining of the program and the forced relocations may have been that it broke down tribal lines (and probably family lines as well) and fostered, as Annie said, a greater sense of nationhood. But it is impossible to prove, maybe those lines would have decayed regardless and there may yet be more unintended consequences of the breakdown in tribal identity.
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