The guilty always smell a rat.
Yesterday, while delivering a speech, Kenya’s President mentioned that Kenya is a country that has fully embraced freedom of expression. President Uhuru Kenyatta said that Kenya does not attempt to alter with Covid-19 numbers and neither does it oppress its citizens towards their freedom of speech.
Today, a plane carrying a Kenyan delegation to represent President Uhuru Kenyatta at the funeral programme of the late President Benjamin Mkapa in Tanzania was turned away. President Magufuli must have felt a tinge of guilt when his counterpart, Kenyan President, mentioned freedom of expression in his speech.
Ridicule.
In the month of June, Tanzanian president John Pombe Magufuli made fun of the country’s speaker for wearing a face mask. The president said “The other day, I was shocked to see the National Assembly speaker all alone in Parliament wearing a face mask. My dear Tanzanians, let us believe in God. If someone brings you a face mask, you don’t even know where he got it from. Refuse it, tell him to wear it himself and his family in their house.”
While faith in God is optimal, the President forgets it is the same bible that talks against ‘foolishness’. One is left puzzled. At one point in time, Tanzania had announced 80 new cases of Covid-19 in a single day. Fast forward, out of the blue, the president announced that God had cleansed the country. He announced that there were no any cases of Covid-19 in his country.
Truth-balance; What the Tanzanian media won’t dare say.
- Before the pandemic swept all over the world, Magufuli’s economic vehicle was taking steps. This is what blinded him from the truth. His ambition to revive Tanzania’s economy has blindfolded him on the dangers of the pandemic. He only sees his goals. He has neglected the lives of his fellow Tanzanians while he hides away in the state house and in his home village. Even though he claims to be nationalistic, hence patriotic, his actions are so far from the truth. He has closed down media houses for reporting Covid-19 cases. He has intimidated public figures authoritatively denying them their freedom of speech.
- Freeman Mbowe was detained in March this year. He is the chairman of Chadema, the main opposition party, and the MP for Hai in the Kilimanjaro region. On June this year, he was ambushed by unknown people on his way home. It was alleged that the ambush was an intimidation strategy. Mbowe has openly criticized President Magufuli on his handling of the corona virus crisis. He has accused the President of being careless on a deadly pandemic that could wipe out thousands of Tanzanians. Tindu Lissu, a serious Magufuli critic and strong opposition figure, was shot severally three years ago. He was also ambushed on his way home.
- ‘Tanzania Daima’, a newspaper associated with Mbowe was shut down by President Magufuli. The major newspaper in the country was awkwardly accused of breaching journalistic ethics without evidence.
- The civil society in the country has been reduced to silent observers. If anyone dares to come forward, they are arrested with awkward charges. A Northern Arusha lawyer who’s identity remains hidden for fear of retribution wrote the following;
“The truth of Covid-19 in Tanzania has been masked by the government officials. The reality of the infected persons and fatalities in Tanzania is skyrocketing daily. We can’t express this due to fear of intimidation and repressive laws that the government is increasingly imposing on Tanzania. The disease has gotten out of control and the hospitals have been overwhelmed. The recent claims by the government that Tanzania has fully contained the disease is a pernicious lie. Magufuli and his authoritarian government are making attempts to de-congest the hospitals by releasing patients to take care of themselves at home….”
Ex-President’s mysterious death.
Even though the family has come out claiming that former President Benjamin Mkapa died of malaria, keen observation says otherwise. There had been earlier reports in the country that had said the Ex-President had died of heart attack. There occurred to be contradicting reports from the government and the family concerning the death. It doesn’t need a magnifying glass to see that there is something being hidden.
Malaria is a normal disease in Africa. If his death was malaria associated, it could not have taken so much effort to put it out on the light. The roundabouts around the cause of death is another attempt to hijack freedom of expression.
