Many Kenyans will tell you that whenever they see our national flag, or hear the national anthem, they feel their hearts swell with pride. Why? Because the flag and our anthem make them feel patriotic – proud to be Kenyan. This is possibly what Boniface Mwangi, a well known activist, felt when he went to the cinema on 27th November 2016, only to look around and see some people not standing for the national anthem. So he yelled at them until they stood. I found this odd – so I decided to dissect this phenomena in this episode. Is patriotism a good or bad thing? Press play to find out!

Resources

Boniface Mwangi’s Tweets

Constitution of Kenya – Chapter One – Sovereignty of the People and Supremacy of this Constitution

Constitution of Kenya – Chapter Two – The Republic

Nyumba Kumi And Institutional Failure In Kenya

Corruption and Terror: Somali Community in Kenya Caught in the Crossfire

What is Patriotism?

National Anthems: A Call to Arms

Notes on Nationalism

My Land Is Not Kenya: The Folly Of Patriotism

Image Credit: Pond5

Title Credit: Daima Kenya (a song by Eric Wainaina)

UPDATE [01/12/2016] An earlier version of the episode had said the Stasi were active during Hitler’s time. This has since been corrected to state that they were active in East Germany.