Topic: Xenophobia and its effects

Anyone who's spent any time on this forum, including many fair minded Tanzanians, cannot fail to have noticed the anti-Kenyan xenophobia peddled by the likes of Geza Ulole, Askari Kanzu, Bantugbro and others.

It has to be pointed out that such hateful attitudes have got real world consequences. The demonisation of Kenyans that we see, not just on this forum but in Tanzanian national discourse (to the extent that they call us nyang'aus) is a precursor of worse to come. It is the same pattern that we saw in South Africa where they call Africans, including Tanzanians, makwerekwere.

Such verbal violence against human beings, such dehumanisation always allows the people doing it to treat the object of their hatred as something less than human and that is where we are headed with the hatred the Tanzanian intelligentsia are formenting against Kenyans. As the English say, "give a dog a bad name and hang him".

Survivors of an accident in Tanzania which claimed 12 members of a church group on Sunday said the death toll might have been lower had there been quick response from the authorities and bystanders.

“A group of locals gathered around us and just stared without doing anything as the victims were crying out for help while others were dying,” said Ms Agnes Muthoni Muhoro, a member of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa Women’s Guild.


Gospel mission
She was among 84 mothers from six PCEA churches in Thika Parish, who were travelling for a week-long gospel mission to Dar es Salaam when calamity struck.

Ms Muhoro, a teacher at St Patrick’s Primary School, said some of the bystanders even stole valuables from the dead before Tanzanian police arrived at the scene.

Another survivor, Ms Mary Ndung’u, said some youths were demanding to be paid to help rescue the victims.

Ms Margaret Mukora concurred, saying one of them was heard shouting “nyinyi wa mama wa Kenya si mtoe hela tuwasaidie?<===would they have behaved this way kama ingekuwa wamama wa Tanzania...if they hadn't learned to regard Kenyans as nyang'aus? (Why don’t you women from Kenya give us some money so that we may help you).”

However, the Women’s Guild national coordinator Veronica Muchiri and Juja MP William Kabogo praised the Kenyan government’s quick response to the tragedy by airlifting the injured to hospital.

Earlier, relatives of the victims were overcome by emotions during a joint service for family members held at the PCEA Happy Valley Church in Thika. Rev Festus K Gitonga, the PCEA secretary general, conducted the service.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Bystand...z/-/index.html

Ninashukuru kwa jibu lako lakini bado mimi sioni tatizo la lugha. Hizo unazozitaja ni redio ambazo ni za kitaifa. Lakini akaja mjasiriamali mdogo ambaye anataka kutangaza kizaramo sioni shida ikiwa lengo lake ni kunufaisha wanaotumia lugha ile na pia kuienzi. Wajerumani na wajapani wanatumia lugha moja nchi nzima.

Lugha zile ambazo labda wamekosa uwezo wa kumiliki redio au mtu wa kurusha ujumbe lugha zao, bila shaka zitakufa na ndio kawaida ya lugha ambayo haijahifadhiwa kwa maandishi au matumizi. Tanzania ikiendelea na kuenzi kiswahili bila shaka siku za usoni lugha nyingi zitapotea. Hiyo ni kawaida kabisa.

Ukiingia tovuti ya BBC utakuta kurasa nyingi sana na hata za lugha/lafudhi tofauti hata za uingereza. Kuna Welsh- Newyddion - Hafan na pia Scottish - Naidheachdan - Dachaigh. Lugha hizo za waingereza siyo za kimataifa lakini zinatumika. Ni mawazo ya mtu, vitendo vyake na dhamira zake ambazo zinaweza kueneza chuki hizo. Hamna shida kabisa kuwasiliana lugha hata zile ndogo kabila ikiwa ujumbe wako ni wa amani. Mbona nyimbo za lugha tofauti tunafurahia? Labda Saida Karoli tungempiga stop ili tuimbe Kiswahili tu? TATIZO NI WATU wala siyo LUGHA.

By Reginald12

I do not think we should be too hard on the reporter on this. The reporter was relying on information given by the survivor as Dhuks has pointed out. But we also need to look at this in a wider perspective. Take into consideration the victim's background. If she is from Nairobi or Thika, anyone would understand why she would have expected 'swift' response. But sadly, Wami is not in an easily accessible location, and anyone who is familiar with the geography of the area would appreciate the fact that the injured managed to be taken to the Muhimbili National Hospital within hours! One only needs to imagine a similar incident taking place in rural Kenya, away from the city. Another contributor here, gangi I think, pointed out the low traffic volume at the time of the accident.
The callous behaviour of some of the villagers, while inexcusable, can be attributed to one or two rotten apples in the basket. After all, every village has its madman!

While we dissect and analyse every bit about this incident we should be thinking of what needs to be done in the future since we don't have a solution to accidents. Maybe it's time to talk to our govts about investing in aerial quick response teams. A few of those VIP carrying choppers could be configured to take emergency rescue personnel to wherever disaster strikes.

While still here, let's also cast a look at the Tabora accident. The regional administrators responded by taking extra medical personnel and supplies with them to the remote health centre where the injured victims of the accident were being attended to.

So the 'supposed' slow response, I feel, was due to the exceptional circumstances with regard to the location and resources at the disposal of the concerned organs. Ask the passengers/motorists who had to endure an 8 hr delay after the accident as the road was blocked and it is easy to understand why you can't get everyone to hospital in 15 mins.

The injured were rushed to Tumbi Referral Hospital first, though still hundred kms apart! What annoys me is being a Journalist u need to think rational all this could be spotted and explained! But that biased journalist chose to skip that and put only hate part! That was unfair coverage, probably the next time such an accident happen even that late response won't be there!

Here you are again posting unreasonable comments very unreasonable and pointless i dont know whats wrong with you and tz, you might have that school education dat you claim you have phd or masters etc, good for you vry good.
Sasa kitu ulopost hapo kinahusiana nini na huyo journalist wenu alepost vitu hatred towards Tz, through you and a few others of yo kinds in dis forum nazidi wafahamu sana majority ya wakenya. Spare us the hate brother please be a reasonable person bana mambo gani haya kaka, you are a disgrace to your people change that attitude neighbour where did you breed? Somalia I guess, acha hiyo mambo man you had to correct huyo mwandishi alopost hiyo topic huko juu, uliniuliza jana what was I creating kwa ile point na wewe nkuulize what is that person creating? I thought you learned sumthin yesterday kumbe hakuna kitu, jamani jamani majirani ni nn kati yetu nanyi? we were supposed kuelimishana na kusaidiana humu sasa haya mambo wakenya mnapost kila siku blaming Tz mi i fail to understand, kwa mwendo huu sijui labda 2040 hiyo EAC ndo itakaa sawa, how i wish hawa viongozi wa bongo wawe wanavisit hii forum wajue what in the world they are about intergrate with. Quit that chuki and dharau bwana Smatta and yo fellow Journalist