A Breakable Bond or Unity at Any Cost? Rethinking the Control Mechanisms Against the ‘Threats’ to National Unity in Tanzania

Abstract

The literature treats Tanzania as an exemplary case in building and sustaining national unity in Africa. Several factors such as Nyerere’s charismatic leadership, the role of the Kiswahili language and the adoption of socialism are credited for this unity. The adoption of liberal democracy has, however, decreased the influence of these factors, hence leading to the emergence of ‘threats’ to national unity. Overcoming these threats has involved several mechanisms such as neutralizing potential referees and canonizing the past, which nonetheless pose a sustainability threat to this unity. Promoting national consensus and voluntary affinity to this unity is thus an imperative.