A man holds a newspapers following the death of Tanzania's President John Magufuli. Photo Emmanuel Herman/Reuters

Zanzibar, Tanzania – Condolences streamed in from across the world on Thursday after the death of Tanzanian President John Magufuli, as many wonder how the East African country could change in the absence of a leader who was loved, loathed and feared.

In a televised address, the country’s Vice President Samia Suluhu said the 61-year-old president had died of a “heart condition” at a hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam, an illness she said he had been battling for the last 10 years.

“We have lost our formidable leader” she said. The country will begin a two-week mourning period, as funeral preparations are under way.

As with much of his five-year presidency, Magufuli’s health decline and subsequent death was marred by controversy. The president disappeared from public view in late February, leading to widespread speculation that he had contracted COVID-19.

As recently as last week, government officials said the president was in good health and working hard. Several individuals have been arrested for spreading rumours that the president was sick. The groundswell of speculation about his health came after Magufuli, who had previously played down the threat of the coronavirus, admitted that COVID-19 still posed a threat in Tanzania.

From infrastructure development to the suppression of political and civil rights, Magufuli’s leadership has left a significant legacy that many are yet to fully comprehend.

“You fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith” tweeted Humphrey Pole Pole, publicity and ideology secretary for the president’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, and prominent Magufuli loyalist.

The leader of opposition ACT Wazalendo party, Zitto Kabwe, described the situation as unprecedented and “one that will move us all in very personal ways”.

In a tweet on Thursday, lawyer and rights activist Fatma Karume described the Magufuli administration as a “horrendous” five years.

“But I am grateful and proud that I kept my humanity even when evil was the order of the day. Thank you to all who made these 5 years bearable” she said on Twitter.

Uncertain future

The Constitution provides that in circumstances of death, the vice president should assume leadership and finish the present term, until the next election.

As such, the soft-spoken Hassan, who hails from the semi-autonomous Zanzibar region, would become the first female leader in Tanzania and the East African region at large.

However, as of late Thursday, there was no confirmation about plans for an inauguration ceremony. The vice president will address the nation on Friday regarding burial arrangements for Magufuli, government spokesman Hassan Abbasi said on state TV on Thursday evening.

“During this difficult time, we look on the incoming president to provide the leadership and unity that we need. We wish her blessings, courage and patience” said Kabwe.

Her ascendancy to the presidency would raise questions about whether there may be a change in the direction of politics and policy in the country, particularly regarding the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and in the areas of civic and political rights; two sets of issues on which Magufuli had attracted sharp criticism.

Columnist and political analyst Elsie Eyakuze said she hoped that the opposition would find new platforms that would enrich and diversify public life.

“I envision that many restrictions pertaining to civic freedoms might relax, and I am anticipating a change in political flavour as happens with every incumbent. I cannot possibly speculate on what his death means for the ruling party. My hope is that we might return to the multiparty democracy we were working on developing between 1995 and 2015,” said Eyakuze.

Dan Paget, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, agreed it was too early to know how Magufuli’s death would affect the ruling party.

“It is not clear how the regime’s actions will change, but a new leader is an opportunity to wash away the sins of the past, in words even if not in deeds. I expect at least a feigning of reform, perhaps a change of course on COVID-19, and token liberalisations. Whether or not Tanzania changes its course on authoritarianism or anything else depends on to what extent there is a changing of the guard,” he said. - Sammy Awami, Al Jazeera

Although COVID-19 has battered their economy, Kenyans look deeply divided over taking vaccine doses, mostly due to misinformation and trust deficit between the public and the government.

The Kenyan government laboured hard to secure 1.02 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The country is expected to receive another 24 million doses within months. The government has begun vaccinating frontline health workers, teachers, and security personnel across the country.

But speaking to Anadolu Agency a majority of Kenyans in the capital Nairobi expressed skepticism as none of the government officials have been inoculated so far.

“I am not going to take the injection, none of our top government officials have taken the injection. They are just waiting for us to take it so that they can use us as experiments,” said Marcos Karanja who is dealing with sewerage maintenance.

He said like other countries, top leaders should take the jab first to lead by example. He said it looks that vaccines are being tested on poor men to learn about their side effects.

Joram Njuguna, 25, a student questioned the Health Ministry directive asking the vaccinated people to continue observing social distancing.

“Why are we told that after being vaccinated we should still maintain social distancing, wear masks, wash hands, and obey all other preventive measures. If I am vaccinated, I can’t get the disease…if I can’t get the disease, I can’t spread it, so why are we being told to still do this. Something is off about the vaccine, I wanted to take it but I will not,” he said.

But Beautician Rehema Awuor,28, said that she will get vaccinated because she does not want her parents to contract the disease.

“The only reason I want to get vaccinated is that my parents are very old and I stay with them. I want to protect them as they are mostly at home, if there is a silver lining that I may be able to save them then I will take the jab, “she said.

Emma Wanjiku, an accountant said there was a trust deficit between government and people. 

Voluntary groups try to dispel fears

“I won't let them inject me or my kids. With our corrupt government, whatever they may inject us might not even be a vaccine, my husband is a medic and he has also cautioned us about this,” she said.

Janet Njeri a receptionist claimed to hear catholic doctors advising people to be careful.

“I wanted to take it but I will not, the stories you hear in the villages are even more absurd and scary,” she said.

Voluntary community health worker Ambrose Opiyo from the Mathare slums said that his organization is fighting vaccine skepticism.

“A majority of people I have spoken to here will not take the vaccine due to misconceptions. They feel the government is out to reduce the number of people who live in slums…if not by killing them, by making it so that they can’t reproduce,” he said.

Influence by politicians has also contributed to vaccine skepticism with many followings what their local leaders are urging them to do.

Stephen Karanja, a medical practitioner said it was criminal on the part of African leaders to test the vaccine on people. But another medical practitioner Ramadhan Marjan urged Kenyans to take the vaccine to save lives.

“As Muslim doctors and as people from the scientific community, we will say we have nothing against those vaccines,” he said.

Despite such reassuring words from doctors like Marjan, the number of Kenyans who are skeptical about taking the jabs is considerably high. By Andrew Wasike, Anadolu Agency

Magufuli's vice president said on Monday citizens should ignore rumours from outside the country. Photo Sadi Said/Reuters

A main opposition party in Tanzania has urged the government to “fully explain the mystery surrounding” President John Magufuli’s nearly three-week absence, saying the public has the right to know about his whereabouts and who is running the country.

A vocal COVID-19 sceptic, Magufuli last appeared in public on February 27 and in recent days, speculation has been rife that the 61-year-old is ill with the coronavirus – though the prime minister said last week the president was healthy and hard at work.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ACT-Wazalendo party said Magufuli’s absence amid the clatter of rumours “has raised palpable public anxiety and tension which threatens the welfare of the country”.

“We demand that the relevant authorities immediately tell Tanzanians the real situation of Dr Magufuli’s condition and assure the republic about continuity of the roles of his office as stipulated in the Constitution,” the statement signed by ACT-Wazalendo leader Zitto Kabwe said.

Kabwe said Tanzania’s constitution allows for the cabinet to submit a resolution to the chief justice to put together a medical inquiry to certify the president is “unable to discharge the functions of his office by reason of physical or mental infirmity”.

He also called for the “unconditional” release of several people arrested in the country since last week for allegedly spreading false information about the sickness of political leaders, according to the police, who did not mention the president’s name when referring to the arrests.

Legal and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mwigulu Nchemba said on Monday anyone “blathering, spreading misinformation” were breaking the law and could be arrested.

Nicknamed the “Bulldozer”, Magufuli was elected in 2015 on promises to tackle corruption and boost infrastructure development. He won a second term in a disputed poll last year.

However, his government has been accused by rights groups of stifling democracy and cracking down on the media. As a result, the country’s journalists are too afraid to dig into the story.

“It’s all about survival and telling the truth … you need to play it safe to continue operating or rush to this delicate story and risk your licence and most importantly your life,” an editor of a privately-owned Swahili newspaper told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

Magufuli’s absence comes amid a string of high-profile deaths and illnesses attributed to “respiratory problems” or “pneumonia”.

The president has long downplayed the severity of COVID-19, urging Tanzanians to pray, use steam inhalation and embrace local remedies to protect themselves from the respiratory disease. Tanzania stopped releasing infection numbers in April 2020, weeks before Magufuli declared the country coronavirus-free in June through divine intervention.

He refused to wear a face-mask or take lockdown measures. But a week before he was last seen, Magufuli conceded the virus was still circulating, after the vice president of semi-autonomous Zanzibar was revealed to have died of COVID-19.

Addressing a congregation at a church service in Dar-es-Salaam, he said the government had not forbidden the wearing of masks and encouraged those who wanted to do so.

Last Tuesday, main opposition leader Tundu Lissu, exiled in Belgium, and others began questioning Magufuli’s absence, citing sources that he was gravely ill from COVID-19, exacerbated by underlying health conditions.

On Monday, Lissu said on Twitter his intelligence sources “say he’s on life support with COVID and paralysed on one side and from the waist down after a stroke. Tell the people the truth!”

Among the theories in circulation is that Magufuli is severely ill in a hospital in Kenya or India, while another suggests he never left Tanzania at all. Kenyan media have reported the presence of “an African leader” in a Nairobi hospital in clear reference to Magufuli, although government officials deny he is present.

India’s immigration service records do not show anybody by the name of John Magufuli entering the country, and air ambulance flight records do not show a flight from East Africa since February 1, an Indian government source told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

The Tanzanian government has said very little, other than to threaten those spreading rumours with jail time.

On Friday, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said Magufuli was “strong and working as usual”. On Monday, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan dropped a possible hint the president is ill, without naming him.

“Our country is now full of rumours from outside but that should be ignored … It’s quite normal for a person to contract flu, fever or any other disease,” she said. “If there’s need for us to remain united, the time is now.”

In his statement, Kabwe said the government was merely giving room for panic.

“We know for sure that the president is ill but we are surprised by the deepening silence about the matter,” he said. “We need to know who is currently heading the government through which constitutional powers.” - Al Jazeera

Pointing fingers: President Museveni, the winner of the January 14 poll, says the Opposition stuffed ballots and intimidated NRM supporters especially NUP party. Photo Daily Monitor

President Museveni last night admitted that there was “cheating” in the January 14 presidential elections, but said the mastermind and beneficiary was his main challenger Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, of the National Unity Platform (NUP) and its supporters.

“Everybody in Uganda knows who cheated; it was Kyagaulanyi group. It was ballot-stuffing, massive rigging in other parts of the country led by the [NUP] youth organisations,” Mr Museveni said, citing irregularities that according to him were observed in Kampala, Wakiso, Kyotera and other districts in central Uganda,Bobi Wine defeated the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer Yoweri Museveni across Buganda and Busoga by a wide margin, according to Electoral Commission (EC) results, which showed Mr Museveni nationally won with 58 per cent.

Bobi Wine on the other hand got 35 per cent, the poll body announced, a voting outcome the NUP leader rejected. He went to court, but withdrew his petition to challenge Museveni’s re-election mid-way, claiming the Supreme Court judges were biased.

Last week, he proclaimed himself winner of the election with 54 per cent and asked his supporters to mass up at EC offices to reclaim the stolen victory, a call that has gone nowhere.  
In comments about the elections, his first since Bobi Wine opted out of court contest, Mr Museveni said Bobi and his NUP supporters exploited the “weakness” of some “parasitic” NRM vote protectors, and bribed police.

Without naming names, the President, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, warned police officers, whom he said declined to act on reports of intimidation of NRM supporters, that they will be dismissed.

The raft of allegations that President Museveni catalogued against NUP are similar to those Bobi Wine levelled against NRM and its former candidate, including his withdrawn petition in which he had listed ballot-stuffing, intimidation and abduction of his supporters.

He went on to warn unnamed individuals plotting to sabotage his swearing-in expected in May.
In comments about several abducted NUP supporters, Mr Museveni said some of them had been freed following their revelation of Opposition post-election game plan and asked those still in custody to cooperate with security forces.

The President also declared near victory over Covid-19, saying only 334 Ugandans out of 40,000-plus infected, had succumbed “unnecessarily” to the pandemic and congratulated most citizens for heeding to the prevention measures the government introduced last year.

The President, in repeat of his International Women’s Day criticism of this newspaper, demanded a full front-page apology in “big letters” for what he said was a report that he and First Lady had received advance Covid-19 inoculation. 

However, the article that this newspaper adapted from US publication, the Wall Street Journal, carried a report about Museveni “inner circle” and did not mention either the President or the wife as vaccine recipients. - Franklin Draku, Daily Monitor