What does Hakuna Matata mean?

You’ve almost certainly heard the expression “Hakuna Matata”.

Not only is it the title of one of the most famous songs from the film “The Lion King”, but it is also used in many other contexts. We have, for example, chosen to name some of our tours to Kenya after the expression.

Hakuna Matata means “no worries” in Swahili, one of the national languages in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania.

Where does Hakuna Matata come from?

The expression became world famous in 1994 with the release of Walt Disney’s animated success “The Lion King”, in which the warthog Pumba and the suricat Timon teach Simba the lion cub how to live a worry-free life.

But the phrase was used for the very first time in 1980 by a Kenyan band. The band, Them Mushrooms, repeatedly sang Hakuna Matata, meaning “no worries”, in the chorus of the song “Jambo Bwana”.

Following Them Mushroom’s use of the term, it was picked up by a Swedish author and a German band, among others.

When is “Hakuna Matata” used?

Hakuna Matata is not actually used all that much in African countries. The Africans tend to use the phrase “Hamna Shida” instead. And Hamna Shida means the same as Hakuna Matata: “no worries”.

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