Kenya and Tanzania have a strong love-hate relationship, often ranging from banter – playful insults and witty retorts – to serious fights.
Citizens of the two East African neighbors have over the years indulged in verbal sparring, especially in sports, which often trend globally. But the banter goes beyond sports, often turning into witty commentary on serious social, economic, political and diplomatic issues.
When they’re not light-hearted banter about language proficiency and football-induced anxieties, they’re having strong words about serious issues like border disputes, flights and confiscated animals.
Citizens of the two countries were at it last week when Taifa Stars, the men’s football team of Tanzania, were surrounded by the Atlas Lions of Morocco during the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Ivory Coast.
Many Kenyan football fans took to social media to celebrate the defeat of Taifa Stars, who conceded three points to three nil in their opening Group F match. User One X suggested that the Tanzanians should have been hired to entertain their fans with the rousing bongo music instead of sending a soccer team to the Ivory Coast just to embarrass himself.
Some went so far as to say that the plane that used to take the team to Ivory Coast should not have shut down its engine as it was only a matter of time before they were stranded.
Taifa LeoKenya’s leading publication in Kiswahili, had set the tone: “Wakenya wakama Tanzania ikihangaika huko Afcon via KBC bila malipo (Kenyans will watch Tanzania as it competes in Afcon via KBC for free)”.
But as they say, good banter is like a symphony of witty remarks and retorts, and so the Tanzanians gave as much as they got.
A Tanzanian hit back, saying Kenyans are just jealous for failing to qualify for Afcon as one cannot play football on an empty stomach, a mockery of Kenya’s current struggles with the tough economic times. Another went harder, joking that the only thing Kenyans know how to do is protest the price of unga (maize flour).
In 2019, Harambee Stars twice came from behind to beat Tanzania 3-2 during that year’s Afcon, knocking their neighbors out of the competition in the process.
Fans from both countries then exchanged a flurry of barks, with the Kenyans celebrating their neighbour’s downfall.
After a nationwide blackout that even affected the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a cheeky Tanzanian wrote on X: “Jirani hana umeme, hana unga, anaongea tu kiingereza kwa giza (Our neighbor has no electricity or maize flour, he just speaks English in the dark).”
Tanzanians pride themselves on speaking proper Swahili, while their Kenyan counterparts boast of having an excellent grasp of the English language and make fun of each other for their poor understanding of the language in which they are weak.
This was during an Agriculture and Food Summit in Tanzania in September last year when President Suluhu scolded her Kenyan counterpart for not using proper Swahili greetings. “The other day [President William] Ruto came here and taught us to say ‘jumbo’ but the real thing is ‘hambari for mchana’. Kenyans are very funny, they refer to signing a contract as “kuweka pilelo”. These Kenyans…we have to enroll them for Swahili lessons,” he said in Swahili.
But CNN’s Kenyan correspondent Larry Madowo, who was hosting the forum, defended President Ruto.
“I have to defend my president… because Kenyans and Tanzanians are brothers, we speak to Tanzanians in bad Swahili and Tanzanians answer us in bad English, we go on like this, as if it is the gospel,” he said.
Before the latest football travesty, the two countries had just emerged from a serious diplomatic row involving the suspension of flights between them. Nairobi instigated the fight by denying Dodoma’s request to ask the national carrier to operate cargo flights from Kenya to other countries. In response, Tanzania announced it was suspending Kenya Airways flights to its commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
However, Kenya moved quickly to resolve the dispute, perhaps realizing it stood to lose more, with KQ operating 33 scheduled flights a week between Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
Although Kenya has many neighbours, it is always a different ball game when it comes to Tanzania, with frequent Nairobi-Dodoma brawls being the order of the day. Fortunately, they are always resolved amicably.
The two countries have a long history of rivalry, dating back to the 1960s, over the different ideological paths they took after independence.
While Tanzania followed the socialist path with its founder President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Kenya chose the capitalist path with Jomo Kenyatta. The rulings saw Tanzania refer to Kenya as a man-eating society Kenya called Tanzania a man-eating society.
Tanzanians have rarely hidden their dislike of Kenyans beyond perceived stuffiness and arrogance. Kenya is a long way from East Africa’s top economy, but Tanzania is starting to catch up, boosted by an infrastructure boom and booming economy. Last year, in April, the International Monetary Fund predicted that Tanzania’s economy would be bigger than Kenya’s within the next decade.
A move by former Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s government aptly illustrates economic competition. In 2017, the Tanzanian government burned 6,400 Kenyan chicks alive and confiscated cows.
Kenya later closed the crossing points with Tanznaia to all human traffic. Tanzania responded by banning all trucks from Kenya from entering the country, leading to a crisis at the Namanga border, with long lines of trucks forming on both sides. The leaders of the two countries later addressed and resolved the issue.
But it doesn’t always fight, sometimes, countries engage in good neighborliness. For example, in July 2019, Kenya returned to Tanzania 35.3kg of gold worth over Sh100 million and Sh15 million in cash seized from a suspect at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in February 2018.
The money and gold had been stolen on 21 May 2004 from Tanzania’s NBC Bank in Moshi. A total of $77,500, 171,600,000 and 170,000,000 Tsh were seized from the bank as staff were locked in a safe.
The mission was received by Magufuli, who praised Kenya’s efforts to combat illegal trade. Among those who joined the delegation for the return of the loot was then Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma.
Magufuli and then Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke by phone. The Tanzanian leader praised Ms Juma and jokingly asked Mr Kenyatta to let Tanzania have her. But Mr Kenyatta refused, saying he would offer him someone else but not the Foreign Affairs CS.
In appreciation of the gesture, in August 2019 Magufuli presented Mr Kenyatta with four peacocks “as a sign of deep respect and appreciation for the Kenyan leader”. Tanzanian High Commissioner to Kenya Pindi Hazara Chana then handed over the birds at State House, Nairobi.
A statement by the then Presidential Strategic Communication Unit explained that the birds were given to Mr Kenyatta by his host during a private visit to Tanzania.
“On behalf of myself and the people of Kenya, I accept this special gift. This is in the spirit of brotherhood and friendship among East Africans,” Mr Kenyatta said at the time.
“It is a great honor not only between us as presidents but also as a people of East Africa. This deep relationship and brotherhood should continue to benefit our present and future generations,” he added.
Kenya and Tanzania share land and water borders, as well as ecology, with the wild flower migration one of the wonders. The animals come to conceive in Kenya and give birth in Tanzania and vice versa.
After Magufuli, light and heavy exchanges continued with President Samia Suluhu.
At the height of the Azimio la Umoja One anti-government protests in Kenya in July last year, President Suluhu mocked Kenya’s instability, saying investors were fleeing the country and troops in Tanzania.
“Kati ya mwezi wa May na Juni, tumepokea wamweseji wengi wengi mno. Lakini ukitizama sababu ni nini? Sababu ni kwamba kwa jirani kunayaka moto (Between May and June, we received many investors like never before. As you can see, the reason is that the neighbor’s house has caught fire”), he said.
Four months earlier, he had taken a jab at Kenya by saying his country had the best performing economy in East Africa. He said Kenya does not have foreign exchange reserves to last a week and has sought Tanzania’s help with the dollar to import petroleum products.
“We are in a better position compared to our neighbors. Their dollar reserves can’t last a week, our reserves can push us for four months. They are here begging us for guarantees to buy fuel,” he said.
Ms Suluhu’s remarks came weeks after Kenya’s Finance Minister CS Njuguna Ndung’u said commercial banks in Kenya had run out of dollars and resorted to borrowing from Tanzania. The Central Bank of Kenya had asked commercial banks to stock up on dollars after a shortage and protect reserves.