PRESIDENT MAGUFULI MUST COMMIT TO FULL TRANSPARENCY
Press Release by Zitto Kabwe, Leader of ACT Wazalendo
ACT Wazalendo notes the statements made by President Magufuli yesterday. While we share his desire for the rate of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Tanzania to drop, we will not simply assume that the President is right in saying we are winning the battle against Corona Virus, just because he says so.
Broadcasting a few selected statistics to support his assertion that Tanzania has turned the tide is simply not good enough. It is now almost three weeks since the government last released a set of full data on the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the country. Reliable reports during the course of last week indicate the complete opposite of what President Magufuli stated today: infections and deaths seem to be rising rapidly. Yesterday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta closed his country’s border with Tanzania to stem the Corona Virus infection rate. This follows a similar action from the Zambian government last week and can only indicate that both countries see a significant rise in the threat of COVID-19 from Tanzania.
The full set of data relating to COVID-19 is required before the country can support the reopening of schools and the resumption of sports events. Our people cannot afford a dangerous spike in infection to result from any irresponsible moves on the part of the government. Full transparency is required and on a daily basis. President Magufuli must come out of hiding in his home town and lead his government in convening daily briefings with the nation to communicate all statistics on COVID-19 and brief us regularly on plans relating to the economy, healthcare and education.
While we would welcome the ability of children to return to school, sports events to resume and tourists to flock back to our country, we need to be assured that the environment is safe enough to allow this. President Magufuli cannot just state that “Tanzania is Safe”. We need the proof. We also need to know what the plans will be for continued testing and tracing together with the initiatives that will be put in place to ensure a new normal of responsible social distancing.
ACT Wazalendo agrees with President Magufuli that we should be working together with our regional partners. Given his statements to this effect, he needs to explain why he did not attend with the recent SADC meeting (the body which he chairs) nor the recent virtual summit of EAC Heads of State. We look forward to his clarification in this regard and his efforts to reach out to fellow Heads of State to ensure Tanzania is in lockstep with our regional partners.
Transparency is now essential. President Magufuli must commit this core principle of governance. He owes it to the people of Tanzania.
