The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Tanzanian president throws spanner into COVID-19 testing
| THE INDEPENDENT | For those who recall the #WhatWouldMagufuliDo hashtag on Twitter in 2015 and have been following Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli’s unorthodox methods since then, his recent sting on the country’s COVID-19 testing facilities is nothing unusual. But it is highly disrupting.
The global reaction has been very different from 2015 when the newly elected man nicknamed the “Bulldozer”, for his no-nonsense crackdown on corruption, absenteeism, and lavish spending, was receiving praise for his antics.
Today, his supporters still admire him but the chorus of derision, apprehension, and fear of the next Magufuli twist is growing.
Some people have praised Magufuli saying: “(He) has outsmarted somebody”.
But there is fear that Magufuli’s operation, which is already causing confusion, might make people refuse or avoid being tested for COVID-19 out of fear of getting wrong results.
Magufuli on May 03 courted controversy again by announcing that he had secretly had some non-human samples tested at the country’s national laboratory and they returned positive results for COVID-19. The President says the samples were from the paw-paw fruit, a quail bird and a goat.
Currently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report there’s no evidence that a fruit can contract COVID-19, although a variety of animals have recently been diagnosed with the disease, including cats, a dog and tigers.
But Magufuli said he was trying to vet the quality of the disease-detection equipment, which was imported from abroad. He said the results show that the detectors could be defective.
The President also questioned the credibility of the lab technicians processing the COVID-19 tests. He said they were mishandling samples and the number of positive tests were exaggerated as a result.
“That means there is possibility for technical errors or these imported reagents have issues,” he said. The next day, on May 04 Magufuli fired Nyambura Moremi, director of the National Health Laboratory Quality Assurance and Training Centre.
He said there is now proof that some people were testing positive for the disease without actually being infected.
“There is something happening,” Magufuli said, “I said before we should not accept that every aid is meant to be good for this nation.”
“This means that some people who have tested positive for coronavirus actually don’t even have this disease,” Magufuli said in a televised address. “The situation is not as bad as fear-mongers claim.”
When the biggest opposition party, Chadema, asked its members to suspend attending parliament after three MPs died in the space of 11 days, Magufuli responded by ordering that the payment of their parliamentary allowances be suspended.
The opposition MPs, he said, are being used by “imperialists”.
Magufuli has showed the same disregard for official data in the past. In 2016 he fired the head of the medical research institute after a case of Zika virus was reported in Tanzania.
Magufuli’s controversies
At the same time, the president added fuel to the fire he has lit over COVID-19 when he said he was placing an order for an herbal tonic drink developed in Madagascar and touted as a cure for COVID-19. The WHO has warned that there is no proven scientific remedy for COVID-19.
In an April 20 statement, the National Academy of Medicine of Madagascar said the remedy Magufuli was importing “is a drug whose scientific evidence has not yet been established, and which risks damaging the health of the population, in particular that of children.” Among their concerns, scientists said the drink could drive resistance to malaria drugs.
Magufuli and his officials have also suggested inhaling steam to fight the virus. Baptised Covid-Organics, the drink is derived from artemisia — a plant with proven efficacy in malaria treatment — and other indigenous herbs.
Earlier on April 22, Magufuli had accused the health ministry of stoking panic by releasing new figures all the time. By April 29, Tanzania had recorded 480 cases, with 167 recoveries and 16 deaths. No new figure has been reported since then.
Everybody has freedom to write anything, However, False, Exaggerated and/or non-researched articles about Magufuli are increasingly becoming notorious and boring. GIVE HIM A BREAK PLEASE! You are just making our President more famous and popular with your hatred against him! Every journalist wants to become popular or earn more through him! There are other ways of earning money. LEAVE HIM ALONE.
Tanzanians believe in God. Magufuli is one of them. Covid-19 isn’t spread in churches in Tanzania – come and see what is taking place instead of writing things blindly. Lockdown can’t be a permanent solution and it is being lifted now by many countries. You can’t lock down people forever! Covid-19 is there to stay we need to know how to live with it. Moreover, Africa has its own way of doing things including traditional healing. Inhaling steam or Madagascar’s medicine are part of it. Whether they work or not, I don’t think the writer made a research before lamenting.
We are tired with unfair attacks to Magufuli for reasons that every learnt person in Tanzania is aware of! Tell us what other countries have gained with alternative ways to covid-19? Is it US, Italy, or UK? Reflect before writing. He is the President of Tanzania and we are not fools to follow him blindly. We understand him. He does what we want!
When a Ugandan tries to be negative on Magufuli! It sounds funny! I saw u even had ur own figures 16,000 cases of covid19 infections. Man stop courting for attention, as far as the disease is new u have no right to think ur approach is a right one. I find Lock down to be a stupid approach as exposes the locals to hunger dangers! If it was the best approach then tell Museveni to go on with lock down! But please stop interfering with internal affairs of Tanzania, our approach is different and u have no right to criticize till proven wrong!
There is a lot to be desired to your claims with reference to vivid 19 infection. You have used several instances to judge our president’s performance in a similar way his opponents used during their 2015 campaigns. This raises several questions as to what is the intention of this message to Tanzania’s stakeholders including development partners and Tanzania’s voters especially when Tanzania is scheduled to conduct elections this year. You have identified yourself in your claims with a political rather than
The media tend to think that they are wiser than everyone and that they are communicating to fools. So who determines what’s orthodox and unorthodox approach to Corona?
The media tend to think that they are wiser than everyone and that they are communicating to fools. So who determines what’s orthodox and unorthodox approach to Corona? Lwt the man do what he deems fit. That’s why he’s the president and you are not.
THE MAKING OF A SLAVE:
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/pdf-doc/willie-lynch-the-making-of-a-slave.pdf
THERE IS SOMETHING VERY WIERD AND STRANGE ABOUT AFRICANS!
THIS WIERD CHARACTERISTIS MADE THEM SELL MILLIONS OF THEIR FELLOW AFRICANS TO BE ENSLAVED BY EUROPEAN CAPITALIST ELITES WITH PLANTATIONS IN THE AMERICAS!
THIS SAME WIERD CHARACTER TRAIT HAS CAUSED THE DEATHS OF OVER 10 MILLON INNOCENT AFFRICAN CITIZENS IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION ALONE; THIS TYPE OF ONSLAUGHT HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT IN RWANDA, LIBERIA, SIERRA LEONE, NIGERIA, SOMALIA AND SOUTH SUDAN where poor unarmed African men, women and children have been ruthlessly slaughtered by BLOOD THURSTY AFRICAN MEN in exchange bribes and guns manufactured in Europe.
While African are busy slaughtering their own innocent citizens, tons of African resources leave the continent to enrich foreigners supplying the weapons!