Thoughts on Tanzania

After the initial excitement of settling in and travelling, which have characterised our first few months here, we’ve inevitably had to settle down a bit. Apart from anything, I’m not being paid to go visit Tanzania- I do actually have to do some work on occasions. This being the case, I have no further travels or holidays to describe on this posting so I thought I’d do something a bit different. Since arriving here a number of questions have popped up both in conversation with people back home and in my own mind. I thought I’d answer a few of them here- an attempt to clear my own mind as much as to satisfy the curiosity of others.

What has been the impact of the events in Kenya on our lives?

In truth, we’ve not been affected too much. There hasn’t been a huge flow of refugees from the north and, even if that had been the case, the large northern cities such as Arusha and Mwanza would have taken the brunt. For sure there have been a few people come to spend time in the safety of Tanzania but by no means a flood of refugees.

The main impact has been far more mundane. For one thing, the port of Mombasa has been more or less completely closed since the troubles started. This has meant that many more vessels than normal have been using the port here in Dar. This resulted both in our shipment being delayed as the vessel had to sit outside port for three weeks waiting for a slot, and also a delay in getting the shipment through customs- the overload on customs now means a lead time of two weeks.

We’ve noticed an impact on prices too. Basically our provisions fall into three categories. You have basic foodstuffs such as fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, rice etc which are locally produced. These are unaffected by events to the north of course. At the other extreme you have Western branded products such as Kellogs Cornflakes or French wine. These are always very expensive ($7 for a small pack of cornflakes anyone?) as they are flown in from around the world. Finally you have products manufactured in Kenya- local brand cereals for example. What we’re finding is that the supply of these cheaper products has more or less dried up. This is forcing us to the more expensive western brands and making the food bill more costly. When we were on Zanzibar, we noticed that petrol prices had tripled overnight. Again this was because petrol came in from Mombasa and this supply had been squeezed hugely.

So in short, the events in Kenya have had a small impact on our lives- mostly in terms of prices. However, we’re also very much aware that this is pretty small stuff compared to the horrors that people to the north are going through right now.

Could the violence in Kenya happen here?

I’m no expert on Tanzania but from what little I’ve garnered from my time here and especially from conversations with my Tanzanian colleagues, the answer would appear to be “possibly”.

It is always possible that violence could break out but not, apparently, for the same reasons. We should remember that there are some important distinctions between Kenya and Tanzania.

Firstly, Kenya has always had a repressive violent streak; Kibaki only came to power himself after a long and violent period of rule by Daniel Arap Moi. Tanzania on the other hand has generally seem smooth transfers of power. Nyerere may have had an authoritarian streak to him, but since his departure over twenty years ago a succession of rulers have come and gone.

Secondly, we need to understand the role of tribalism in the Kenyan conflict. One interpretation of what is going on is that you have two big tribes- the Kikuyu and the Lua- butting heads. In Tanzania you have over 150 tribes- some big, some small. Although there are some large tribes around, none of them are as dominant as the major Kenyan tribes. In addition, you have a tacit unwritten agreement that the roles of President and Prime Minister should always be filled by people from the smaller tribes. This in itself seems to have addressed the very scenario playing out to the north.

However, my Tanzanian friends and colleagues are very keen to point out that just because the specific causes of Kenya’s violence are not found here, it does not mean that violence cannot break out for other reasons. There seems to be a growing disparity between a rich minority and the poor majority. The fact that Tanzania spent decades under the socialist rule of Nyerere, means that this disparity is especially keenly felt here. The press is quite open here, meaning that people are aware of so many instances of corrupt, self serving politicians and civil servants enriching themselves at the expense of the average person. If violence does break out, it is likely to be a reaction of an angry impoverished majority, sick at the self serving corrupt behaviour of the elite.

What is the relationship between the expats and the locals

Although I’m not aware of any resentment towards expatriates coming from the Tanzanian people, I have to say that there have been instances where I’ve been amazed at their sheer patience and forbearance towards some of my co- citizens. Now before I write much more I should make it clear that in most regards, our fellow expats are very nice people and have been most friendly and welcoming to us. However, many people we talk with do have this rather annoying habit of moaning!

In three years of expat living, I’ve come to realise that expats frequently complain and are rarely grateful for the exceptional standard of living they have. When I say exceptional, I don’t mean just in comparison to the local community- although in terms of income we earn hundreds of times more than they do. I, and the other expats have a far better standard of living that we could ever hope to achieve back home- that, of course, is one reason why we’re here!

While I was in Egypt, I found it quite easy to rationalise the behaviour of the slightly more boorish expat. Firstly, a lot of these people were very young, perhaps a trainee only a year or so out of university, and were therefore not used to the implied seniority that expats have in a local company. From being mere students, they suddenly find themselves guiding local employees and also managing domestic staff, drivers etc. Unsurprisingly, this can go to your head! In addition, we found that those who were employees of the larger corporations (BP and BG for example) were there on rotation and had little real desire to be there. Someone who has been born and bred around Aberdeen and has then gone to work for the local employer- BP- might suddenly find themselves in Egypt. To ask people like this to adapt to a foreign culture is always quite a hard request to make and, understandably, not everyone copes. Egypt was a pretty soft assignment and an easy start for us. For many, however, it was an unwelcome period in a strange country to be got through as quickly as possible.

Tanzania on the other hand seems to attract a different type of expat. Rather than the young and slightly naïve person you’d encounter in Cairo, the typical expat here has been living overseas for years, often decades. They therefore expect houses to be big, servants to be obedient and servile and for the swimming pool to be clean. Many work for development agencies or for NGO’s and often have a rather patronising view of Tanzanians. Already we’ve encountered more people than we could imagine who complain that Tanzania is an incredibly hard assignment. Sure, things can be tough professionally at times but this is no different to most emerging markets. However the country is safe and stable, we’re a stone’s throw from the Indian Ocean and quality of life is exceptional. The fact that a plumber might not get it right first time may be irritating but it’s not the end of the world- perhaps some people have been expat for so long that they have lost sight of what normal life is actually like.

Added to this, I find that attitudes to Tanzanians are often pretty awful. Only at the weekend I found myself sitting at a table next to a British guy who starting swearing at a waiter in front of his kids. The reason for this humiliation? The waiter was trying to place a cup of coffee on the table at the same time the man was shifting his chair. He launched into an x- rated tirade about “not wanting to have to cope with dumb Tanzanian waiters as well as with his kids”. Sadly, this is the type of person the UK and other Western countries is exporting to Africa all too frequently. Overt racism may have gone out of fashion but the underlying contempt is still there- that man would not have dared speak like that in the UK.

My experience so far is that people are generally very nice but expats really do moan way too much and make very little effort to fit in. Somehow we manage to feel outrage at the reports of immigrants coming to the UK and not leaning English but at the same time feel equally outraged at Tanzanian workmen who don’t speak English properly here in Dar! The concept of actually learning Swahili is enough to send many of my counterparts into fits of apoplexy- which is why my lessons start tomorrow! One of the reasons for writing this blog and documenting all we’ve seen and done is to remind myself that however hard it is, we’re extremely privileged to live this kind of life. The second Soma and I believe otherwise, we’ll what all disgruntled expats should do and head back home!