A “Question of National Honour” – Status Concerns in Tanzania’s Response to the Invasion by Uganda in 1978

Abstract Tanzania’s response to the invasion by Uganda in 1978 reveals a puzzle that previous scholars of the subject have overlooked. The country resorted to a full-scale war against Uganda, even after recovering its territory, and chose such a costly option when its economy was in a dire situation. Previous scholars emphasised security and revenge as the key motives underpinning the response. This paper, which is based on key informant interviews and archival research, argues that the counterintuitive nature of the response can only be sufficiently understood by factoring in the country’s sensitivity to status transgressions in its first two decades of independence. The invasion by Uganda took place against the backdrop of a state increasingly sensitive to its standing. This paper uses the status-dissatisfaction theory to argue that the response was informed not only by the national security logic, but also the need to defend the country’s status.