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Tanzania: Growing pressure on government to reveal Magufuli’s condition

By Abdul Halim

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Posted on March 11, 2021 15:08

magufuli
Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli holds a spear and shield from the elders after he was sworn-in for the second term at the Jamhuri stadium in Dodoma, Tanzania November 5, 2020. Tanzania State House Press/Handout via REUTERS

It’s been nearly two weeks since Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has made a public appearance. The last public event he attended was the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed chief secretary Bashiru Ally on 27 February. Since then, much has happened.

Unconfirmed reports continue to circulate in Tanzania that the President – known for his fierce denial of Covid – was receiving treatment in Kenya at Nairobi Hospital and has now been transferred to a facility in India after suffering cardiac arrest and testing positive for Covid-19.

Accountable to the public

The president is a public servant, and he is accountable to the public. They must tell us if he is on holiday. And if he is sick, they should tell us. All information about the president’s health should be public.

The disappearance of the 61-year-old president from the public eye has prompted questions among Tanzanians who want to know the true status of his health.

Speaking to The Africa Report, the secretary general of the ACT Wazalendo party, Ado Shaibu, says Tanzanians have a right to ask about the whereabouts of their president: “It is not normal. He is a man who usually

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