Tanzania, the largest East African country, is hurting its standing in the region due to its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Will President John Magufuli’s recent U-turn make a difference?
After the region reported its first case of coronavirus in March 2020, Tanzania has and continues to walk alone after President Magufuli refused to join his regional counterparts in taking a common stance against the virus.
But after months of denying the obvious, several high-ranking former and current officials have died from what many suspect to be coronavirus. The government has not commented on what killed the top officials.
The deceased top officials include: chief secretary to State House John Kijazi, former deputy finance minister Gregory Teu, former governor of Bank of Tanzania Benno Ndulu and first vice-president of Zanzibar Maalim Seif Sharrif Hamad, whose party ACT Wazalendo confirmed he had tested positive for Covid-19 just before his death.
Speaking at the funeral of Kijazi, Magufuli urged Tanzanians to participate in three days of prayer for “respiratory illnesses” that had become a challenge in Tanzania.
The authorities are asking doctors to refrain from referring to unspecified respiratory illnesses as Covid-19 or accepting patients that claim to have symptoms specific to the virus.
From a previous report in The Africa Report, one anonymous doctor said: “We are pressured by the authorities not to attend to people who have coronavirus symptoms rather than treating them for pneumonia and lung infections.”
Economy over lives
Rather than opt for a lockdown or curfew as neighbouring countries did, early on Magufuli declared Tanzania to be free from coronavirus after three days of prayers. As of May 2020, the Magufuli administration had stopped testing people and releasing data on the number of infections. By then, the country had reported 509 cases with 21 fatalities.
While other countries reported new cases, recoveries and fatalities and even took measures like testing at their borders, officials in Tanzania were dancing and singing that Covid cannot survive in their bodies after prayers.
But diplomatic and political analyst Wetengere Kitojo in Dar es Salaam says contrary to what some people believe, Tanzania is observing all guidelines issued by health experts.
“Regardless of what others in the region are saying, our government is serious about protecting people in a way that does not affect the economy. Tanzania should not be dictated on this matter.”
Kitojo adds that Tanzania’s measures were primarily aimed at protecting the economy.
Tanzania is endangering its neighbours
In a statement issued on 21 February, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom called the situation in Tanzania concerning and urged it to follow scientific protocols: “This underscores the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect the population in these countries and beyond.”
The very same day of the WHO’s statement, Magufuli made a slight amendment to his usual discourse regarding Covid. After months of refusing to impose a lockdown or release any data on rising cases, he emerged from a Church service asking Tanzanians to put on locally made face masks instead of imported ones. Masks coming from abroad could not be trusted he said, echoing earlier statements of distrust regarding the vaccine.
“As Tanzanians, we must be keen to wear these face masks. If those who created them are not dying, then they are good for us. Please use masks produced by the ministry of health,” said Magufuli after exiting Saint Peter’s Catholic Church.
Despite the recent nod to mask wearing, opposition and rights activists in Tanzania have been calling the country’s approach shameful. Zitto Kabwe, the head of ACT Wazalendo, says the government’s denial has not only been putting people in the country at risk but also the entire region.
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“This is a global challenge. So denying the truth about the spread of the virus in Tanzania is putting the entire country and region at risk. A lot of people are getting sick, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed and the elderly are losing their lives.”
Fatma Karume – a rights activist, daughter of Zanzibar’s former president Aman Abeid Karume and a fierce critic of President Magufuli – says the world should not stay quiet while Magufuli’s dictatorship downplays Covid-19.
“The world should not allow Magufuli’s authoritarianism and Covid denialism to turn a nation of 60 million souls into a petri dish for bleeding Covid-19 mutations.”
Regional issue
Up until now, very few in the region appear to have much faith in Tanzania after it refused to collaborate with its neighbours on establishing a common stance on fighting the virus.
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Mozambique have been following the guidelines of the WHO and regional authorities like the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
For example, Kenya has imposed – several times now – a curfew and lockdown in Nairobi and Mombasa and even imposed travel bans to and from Nairobi to curb the spike of infections.
Kenya’s top opposition politician Raila Odinga declared Covid-19 to be a regional issue.
“If we don’t control Kenya, it will affect Tanzania, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Our destiny is tied together. We don’t want a situation where any of these countries will have to close their borders with the others,” Odinga was quoted as saying by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 2020.
At one point though, Kenya did close its border with Tanzania, accusing Magufuli’s administration of disregarding the region’s common stance.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta also said East Africa Community (EAC) member states need to have a common vision in order to defeat the virus.
“At the end of the day, we need to work together. Our people are one, and our borders are shared,” said Kenyatta in a televised address in May 2020.
Of the countries in the region, Kenya has been the hardest hit. It has recorded more than 100,000 cases, followed by Uganda which has recorded 40,154 cases, while Rwanda has recorded 17,835 cases.
In the case of Rwanda, the small East African country has taken a strong approach by imposing lockdowns on the most-affected areas, including its capital, Kigali.
President Paul Kagame, the current EAC chairman, criticised the lack of planning among regional leaders to fight the pandemic. Officials from both Tanzania and Burundi were absent from a virtual meeting on that topic.
Bottom Line
While Magufuli made a slight U-turn on his usual discourse of the pandemic, it is not a sea change.
Without publishing official numbers, the public and medical workers have no real sense of how bad the situation is.
Judging by the efforts Tanzania’s neighbours, the situation requires much more attention and stricter measures.
