Thousands sign petition calling on Disney to drop ‘hakuna matata’ trademark

Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition accusing The Walt Disney Company of stealing African culture by trademarking the Swahili words “hakuna matata,” while also calling on the company to release its ownership of the popular phrase.

“While we respect Disney as an entertainment institution responsible for creating many of our childhood memories, the decision to trademark ‘Hakuna Matata’ is predicated purely on greed and is an insult not only the spirit of the Swahili people but also, Africa as a whole,” the Change.org petition says.

{mosads}“The movie is set in Africa and the characters have African names which further makes the decision to implement the trademark a perplexing one,” the petition says. “The term ‘Hakuna Matata’ is not a Disney creation hence not an infringement on intellectual or creative property, but an assault on the Swahili people and Africa as a whole.”

The petition had more than 113,000 signatures as of Thursday evening.

“Hakuna matata,” which translates to “no problems” in Swahili, is a phrase that is used across countries in East Africa.

Disney initially applied to trademark the phrase in 1994, just months after releasing the animated feature, “The Lion King,” and has also renewed it several times since, according to the BBC.

But now, Shelton Mpala, the organizer behind the petition, is hoping Disney will abandon the trademark.

“A lot of Swahili speakers have been utterly shocked, they had no idea this was happening,” Mpala told the BBC on Tuesday. “Growing up in Zimbabwe, I always had an understanding that a culture’s language was its richness.”

Mpala describe the trademark as just one of many ways Africa is continuing to be “exploited in some shape, fashion or form.”