The end of the president’s official visit to the second country of his African tour offered some spectacular, novel moments, but difficult for Europeans to understand. Find out, from the lines below, what Hakuna Matata means, the formula that the locals in Tanzania shout when they throw themselves into the water with the painting of Iohannis. The images are making waves online.
Spectacular moments at the departure of Klaus Iohannis from Tanzania
On Monday, November 20, 2023, President Klaus Iohannis leaves Tanzania, his African tour continuing with the next destination: the Republic of Cabo Verde. The farewell ceremony organized for the head of state at the State House in Dar es Salaam included a special ritual, unknown to Europeans and quite difficult to discern.
Two videos published by SpotMedia show several locals shouting various things around two large paintings – the portraits of Klaus Iohannis and Carmen Iohannis. After this, people run with the paintings in their arms and jump into the water, shouting “Hakuna Matata”.
What does Hakuna Matata mean?
But what does Hakuna Matata mean, the formula that the locals in Tanzania shout when they throw themselves into the water with the painting of Iohannis. The expression became known worldwide thanks to the famous animated film “The Lion King”.
The phrase comes from the “Swahili” or “Swahili” dialect, used mainly in East Africa, having strong influences from the Arabic language. Each word that makes it up has its own meaning. “Hakuna” can be translated as “None” and “Matata” as “Trouble”. Thus, it can be translated as “No problems”.
In Zanzibar, Kenya and Tanzania, “Hakuna Matata” is used by locals to convey that “everything is fine” or “no need to worry, just be happy”.
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What the president sent
The president’s visit to Tanzania was summarized in a few lines on his Facebook page:
“Today I met with Mrs. President Samia Hassan, during her state visit to Tanzania. We had very good discussions about the common priorities of our states, given that Tanzania has a valuable strategic role in relation to African partners. Education, civil protection, agriculture, forestry, IT and cyber security are some areas with great potential for closer collaboration between our states.
At the same time, I welcome the signing today of two memorandums that aim to intensify bilateral cooperation in the field of disaster risk management and international humanitarian assistance, as well as scientific, economic and technical cooperation in agriculture and the environment.
In our open and productive conversations, I conveyed to the President that Tanzania can count on Romania in terms of promoting and developing relations with the European Union. We also discussed the war in Ukraine and presented to the President the extensive political-diplomatic, logistical and administrative measures taken by Romania to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine, including to African countries”, was the message published on the page of Facebook of Klaus Iohannis.
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