Spat between Tanzania and Kenya: The Malignant Disease of Capitalism and its thought of Nationalism

 

NEWS&COMMENT

News:

In May 2025, Tanzanian authorities detained Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire as they attempted to attend the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu in Dar es Salaam. Amnesty International appealed Tanzanian authorities to investigate the arbitrary arrest, torture, incommunicado detention, and forcible deportation of human rights defenders.

Comment: The incident sparked widespread outrage in Kenya and Uganda, with human rights organizations within the region and abroad calling for investigations into the alleged mistreatment of the activists. The US Bureau of African Affairs said on X it was “deeply concerned by reports of the mistreatment” of Atuhaire and Mwangi while in Tanzania. “We call for an immediate and full investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses,” it said, urging “all countries in the region to hold to account those responsible for violating human rights, including torture. Social media platforms became arenas for heated exchanges between Kenyan and Tanzanian citizens, with some Tanzanian MPs accusing Kenyans of cyberbullying and interfering in domestic affair.

It is crystal clear neo –colonialism is a modern form that exists and persists through various mechanisms including the humanitarian intervention, aid conditionality, NGO operations, and soft power diplomacy. The West under the guise of defending human rights have solidified the reengineering of African societies to mirror corrupt liberal Western models such as LGBTQ. Notably, Kenya hosts a quite number of the human rights organization that promote western models. Politically, foreign powers continue to exert influence or Africa under the guise of human rights. Additionally the western rhetoric of defending human rights shows its double standards of the western regimes including US ‘defender of human rights’. In Gaza, the west has not only remain silent but support the genocidal Jewish entity which carries out horrific massacre.

With regards to online war between Kenya and Tanzania with each boasting herself being more civilized and developed than the other, this is one of ills the malignant disease  Nationalism. There are two types of Nationals which are corrupt bonds:Territorial Nationalism which means the feeling of pride and superiority associated with the sense of belonging to a specific territory by birth or citizenship. There other is Cultural Nationalism; the association of an additional component i.e. a specific culture to the territory and the feeling of pride that comes with this association. The mere fact that a superficial concept of nationalism has gained significant traction speaks volume of the ideological weakness of capitalism and its inability to truly manage and solve human and societal problems.

The colonial strategy “Divide and rule” (or divide et impera) has been used extensively by capitalists to maintain control over African territories—and its effects are still visible today. The principle is simple: foster divisions among local groups to prevent unified resistance, thereby securing foreign dominance. The local capitalist mind set politicians in both countries serve as agents of the West in plundering the vast resources hence their citizen in abject poverty. In Muslim countries it is the Sykes-picot scheme that has led political and economic stagnation of the Muslim ummah.

The task ahead to east African people is to free their minds from the shackles and measles of nationalism and bankruptcy of politicians (ruling and opposition) as both read from the same script of corrupt capitalism. Similarly, the concept of Muslim Ummah(nation) emanating from Islam is pan-Islamic in nature and transcends the barriers of National boundaries into an ideological bonding. Islamic ideological bond is only one that can unify people into a solid and unified society.

Written for the Central Media of Hizb ut Tahrir by Shabani Mwalimu

Media Representative Hizb ut-Tahrir in Kenya