The Tanzanian Government on Thursday 26th June, summoned Kenya’s ambassador to Dar, Dan Kazungu, over xenophobic remarks made by a lawmaker in Nairobi. The remarks were viewed as inciting and racist thus could orchestrate xenophobic reactions that’d put the lives of Tanzanian’s working in Kenya in danger.
Kenya has had too many wise and eloquent warnings about the folly and quasi fascist political ideology of the ruling class, now at outlandish thresholds, but has consistently responded with hypocrisy, misinformation, and anti-intellectualism. As if these warning to tone down and unify sociopolitically weren’t enough, the fractured ruling political elite further sparked fear in East Africa after issuing xenophobic statements and later insisting the context was tossed away in favor of reactive diplomatic positions.
A Young law maker, Charles Njagua Kanyi, elected to the August house through the ruling party, gave Government of Kenya 24hrs to expel foreign traders who had taken over local businesses at grassroots level, an outcome that had crippled grassroots trade. The statement and the ultimatum caused unease in the region, particularly in Uganda and Tanzania. Tanzanian parliament held a near-emergency plenary caucus to discuss the events in Nairobi. Excerpts of the Tanzanian caucus speeches displays a fragile region and extremely bad geopolitical fissures. The Tanzanians were of the idea of orchestrating xenophobic attacks targeting thousands of Kenyans trading in the developing East African country.
The lawmaker was midday Wednesday, arrested. Nairobi also went ahead and issued a statement condemning the remarks and reassured its neighbors that their citizens were safe and free to live and work in Kenya, taking leave from the ministry of interiors position that foreigners conducting business meant for the small and micro-enterprises would be disallowed to continue doing such business. While the possibility of xenophobia in Kenya is farfetched fantasy, the thought of it is itself frightening.
The really significant moment, misinterpreted and misunderstood in every sense is the fragility of the entire region. Southern Sudan since its autonomy has failed to stabilize, often slipping into civil strife. Sudan is trying to regain its footing after a fleeting civilian coup and collapsed economy. In Ethiopia, uncertainty overhangs after months of stifled unrest that culminated to a failed coup with its roots in Amhara region, home to hundreds of thousands of heavily armed militiamen. Somalia, more of a basket case, will take nearly another decade to be steady. Rwanda and Uganda have been trading barbs across their common border.
When put together and viewed from a threat lens, all these regional dynamics are catalysts that if exploited by saboteurs and agents of subversion can light up fires in the region, a truly sad possibility. What would be far from worse is if Kenya, the regions patron and stalwart, would allow the region to continue teetering while itself had lost its political senses at such a perilous and frightful period.
