This chapter argues that ethnicity is a universal human characteristic; it is an identity whose moral economy of mutual social relations causes internal dispute more continuously than external contexts cause interethnic competition. Ethnicities are mixed, shared, and subject to constant change in their own self-awareness and their inter-relations with others. The last two centuries of Kenya’s history illustrate this point. In the stateless, precolonial, past, different ways of taming the varied regional environment were the greatest influence on the nature of “ecological ethnicities” that shared ideas, took in each others’ economic migrants, and engaged in little “inter-tribal war”. Under colonial rule, access to scriptural literacy and arguments about how best to resist subjection caused much a sharper, patriotic, ethnic self-awareness. Regional inequalities in development, especially the triumph of agriculture over pastoralism, made ethnicity more competitive – a condition greatly emphasised when independence gave some Africans a centralised coercive power over others. Kenya has only recently adopted a devolved constitution that may defuse this often lethal competition but it is as yet too early to say.

Tanzania is commonly cited as “a success story” where a cohesive society has been built in tandem with its nationhood. In this chapter, we offer an account of interplay between ethnicity and social norms in the context of nation building in Tanzania and highlight the historical transformation of localized, ethnic-based mechanisms for self-protection, “trust networks”, to a national framework for trust enhancement and resolution of conflicts at local levels. This, we argue, was the key for acceptance of national identity by Tanzanians for self-protection, and, hence, a transition from divided pasts to cohesive futures. The chapter traces nation building efforts in Tanzania, and explains why Tanzania is an exception to the patterns of violence and instability experienced in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that that, although conflicts are sometime inevitable, cross-cutting identities such as occupation, and particularly the all-encompassing identity of nationality, can help to decrease the likelihood that conflicts will divide the nation. Diversity may present a challenge to national unity, but it is not insuperable if the political leadership is genuinely committed to deemphasizing ethnic group identities in the public sphere and pursues policies which consider the goal of equality.