The Line between bad and better is a border

an analysis of political violence, foreign policies, and economic prosperity in Kenya and Tanzania

Résumé

Despite being neighbouring states and having several commonalities, Kenya and Tanzania have followed different paths to become two vastly different states today. In pre-colonial times, both countries were under British rule until the early 1960s in which both countries became independent within five years of each other. Even though both countries shared many similarities, such as having populations ranging between 40 and 60 million inhabitants, relatively low GDPs per capital and similar temperate climates, they rode the path to statehood differently. Tanzania embraced Ujamaa, a Swahili word meaning ‘familyhood’ (Delehanty , 2020) which was used to describe leader Julius Nyerere’s radical socialism that stripped the country of economic prosperity. On the other hand, Kenya followed a capitalist and international model, which created inequality and unrest within the state. [...]