Tag Archives: Magufuli

Regional

Tanzania’s president to meet opposition leaders

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced her intention to meet opposition leaders in the country.

Speaking in the Tanzanian parliament, President Samia said deliberations with the opposition on a way forward on the country will be useful.

When she took over from the late President John Magufuli, the opposition wished her well and said it was hopeful of engaging her.

President Hassan told MPs that her government was open to criticisms and should not hesitate to speak out.

She told ministers to be ready to be corrected for their mistakes, and urged legislators to be tough in such instances but use “parliamentary language” while doing so.

– –

President Hassan has already said her government would defend media and citizen freedoms, including democratic rights but asked that people abide by the laws.

She also highlighted her desire to reposition the country better to attract local and foreign investment.

“I’d like to inform parliament and all Tanzanians that the direction and focus of the sixth administration will be to retain the good from the previous administrations, to improve what is currently working and bring new ideas.

“That is the meaning of our slogan ‘work continues’ – we’ll treasure what is working but we’ll also change where necessary for the country’s prosperity,” she said.

– –

<

p data-reactid=”.1l279zmn8g8.1.0.1.1.1.1:$post-607d05ba25a85502a4b2dadb.0.4.0.0:$post_1″>This month the was angry with the country’s lawmakers who have been comparing her to the late former leader, John Magufuli.

During debates in parliament, MPs have been comparing President Hassan to John Magufuli who died in March this year.

Among the issues raised in the debates is the differences she has with Magufuli but President Hassan is not impressed with that.

She would rather wish the MPs debate issues related to the government’s developmental agenda.

President Hassan said she and her predecessor were “one thing” – and was focused on continuing the work of Magufuli.

Tanzania’s President angry with MPs on Magufuli comparison

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source: Africa Feeds

Regional

Tanzania’s President picks finance minister as her veep

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday picked Finance Minister Philip Isdor Mpango as her vice-president.

The Tanzanian parliament has subsequently confirmed Mpango’s appointment as the vice to President Hassan.

Mpango’s appointment was made public by the country’s speaker of parliament and put to a vote for approval on Tuesday.

Dr Mpango now replaces Samia Suluhu Hassan who has taken a step further by becoming president following the death of ex-President John Magufuli this month.

– –

The newly confirmed vice president said he was surprised at his selection and was ready to take on the responsibility.

He is expected to be sworn in tomorrow as the Vice President of Tanzania at the State House in the capital, Dodoma.

Last month the minister attracted some social media frenzy when he was seen in a viral video coughing during a press conference.

– –

Dr. Philip Mpango is an economist who previously worked as a senior economists at World Bank.

Before being appointed by Mr Magufuli as a finance minister, he served as an economic adviser to former President Jakaya Kikwete.

He was one of the two ministers who were re-appointed by the late former President Magufuli at the start of his second term.

An opposition party leader, Zitto MwamiRuyagwa Kabwe has congratulated the new vice president.

He said it was his hope that the president and the new vice “will ensure our democracy is restored.”

Tanzania’s new president sacks ports boss over $1.8m rot

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source

corruption, Regional

Tanzania’s new president sacks ports boss over $1.8m rot

Maravi Post Reporter
– –

Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan has suspended the Director-General of the country’s ports authority.

Deusdedit Kakoko has been suspended after an audit report showed an embezzlement of government funds at the state corporation.

This is her first key decision of President Samia since assuming office after the death of John Magafuli.

She has expressed concern that the ports authority had not accounted for about four billion Tanzanian shillings ($1.8m; £1.3m).

President Samia has also warned that action would be taken against other state corporations, including Air Tanzania, which reportedly made a loss of 60 billion shillings ($26 million).

– –

She said on twitter that she had “received reports for the financial year 2019/2020 from the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Institute for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption (PCCB). I have directed that action be taken and immediate action taken against all the advice and shortcomings identified in the reports.”

The auditor general’s report indicated that the revived national carrier had been making losses for the past five years.

The action comes just two days after the burial of the former President John Magufuli known for his campaign against corruption in government.

Kenya: Street hawker dragged on road for not giving bribe

– –

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source

Regional

Tanzania’s former president John Magufuli buried

Maravi Post Reporter

Instead of following science, he didn’t encourage the adherence to safety protocols, urging people to pray and consider the virus devilish.

Last year, President Magufuli declared his country “coronavirus-free” saying the success was due to prayers by citizens.

He told worshippers in a church that “The corona disease has been eliminated thanks to God.”

President John Magufuli warned health officials in his country against acquiring coronavirus vaccines.

Second term ended

Just last year John Magufuli was declared winner of the country’s presidential election, securing over 12.5 million votes, with opposition leader Tundu Lissu coming in second with almost 2 million votes.

Nicknamed “The Bulldozer”, Magufuli was in his first term in 2015 accused of flouting due process and brooking no criticism in the East African country once held up as a stable democracy in an often-volatile region.

Opposition figures faced violence and police intimidation, press freedom was squeezed, and political rallies banned in a steady crackdown that international rights watchdogs said was a steady erosion of freedoms.

Most foreign media were not allowed into Tanzania to cover the election, while local and international observer missions were also not present.

Magufuli, a former teacher also worked as an industrial chemist before becoming a politician with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.

In 1995 he became a member of parliament and got appointed as deputy minister of works.

After gaining popularity in 2010 following his appointment as Tanzania’s minister for works and transportation he nurtured the idea of assuming the presidency and becoming successful in 2015.

REVEALED: What John Magufuli did before taking his last breath

Source: Africafeeds.com
Source

Regional

Tanzanians pay respects to late President John Magufuli

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Saturday led mourners in paying their last respects to her predecessor John Magufuli, who died suddenly this week after an illness shrouded in mystery.

Mourners lined the streets of Dar es Salaam to bid farewell to the late President, some of them weeping and throwing flower petals as the casket, towed on a gun carriage by a military vehicle, was transferred from a church to Uhuru Stadium to lie in state.

“Before I saw the coffin, I didn’t believe our president was really dead,” said flower-seller Pauline Attony after watching the motorcade pass.

Hassan, who was sworn in Friday to become the country’s first female President, led a government procession filing past the coffin, which was draped in the Tanzanian flag, offering her condolences to Magufuli’s wife.

Many wore black, or the green and yellow colours of the ruling party, but few inside the stadium or among the packed crowds outside wore face masks in the Covid-sceptic country — a scepticism Magufuli himself had embodied.

– –

“It is too soon for you to go, father. You touched our lives and we still needed you,” said one mourner, Beatrice Edward.

“We lost our defender,” said another, Suleiman Mbonde, a tradesman.

Coronavirus sceptic

The government announced Wednesday that Magufuli, 61, had died from a heart condition at a hospital in Dar es Salaam after three weeks missing from public view.

His unexplained absence had fuelled speculation that the famously Covid-sceptic leader was being treated for coronavirus abroad.

– –

Tundu Lissu, Tanzania’s main opposition leader, insists his sources said Magufuli had died a week earlier from the disease that he had long downplayed.

Lissu has lived in exile in Belgium since last November, after losing the presidential election against Magufuli, which he says was rigged.

Magufuli had declared that prayer had rid the country of Covid-19, refused face masks or lockdown measures, stopped the publication of case statistics and championed alternative medicine, decrying vaccines as “dangerous”.

But by February, cases had soared. After the deaths of a number of senior figures — officially from pneumonia — the president popularly known as the “Bulldozer” had to concede that the virus was still circulating.

Leadership transformation

While Hassan says she will take over where Magufuli left off, hopes are high she will usher in a change in leadership style from her predecessor, under whose rules there had been repeated attacks on the opposition.

All eyes will be on her handling of the pandemic.

A softly spoken veteran politician, Hassan will convene a special meeting of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party Saturday, where the appointment of a new deputy is expected to be discussed.

Under the constitution, the 61-year-old will serve the remainder of Magufuli’s second five-year term, which does not expire until 2025.

She has announced a 21-day mourning period. The late president will lie in state in several locations across Tanzania before his burial next Friday in his home town of Chato.

Source

Lifestyle, Regional

Tanzania’s new president calls for unity after Magufuli’s death

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

Tanzania has received a lot of global attention for months now due to its approach towards fighting the coronavirus pandemic, but the death of its former president, John Magufuli climaxed that.

John Magufuli was not willing to embrace science to fight the pandemic and attracted a lot of criticisms from his critics.

Now the country’s new President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is the first female in Tanzania and East Africa wants to chart a new path towards unity.

Samia Hassan Suluhu will now be in power as President until 2025 when the country goes to the polls again to elect a new president.

President Hassan on Friday called for unity and asked citizens to avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli.

– –

She said at her swearing in that “This is a time to bury our differences, and be one as a nation. This is not a time for finger pointing, but it is a time to hold hands and move forward together.”

President Hassan has also urged Tanzanians to never look back adding that what is needed is to concentrate on the future.

John Magufuli died on Wednesday from heart attack, according to the government ending speculations about his whereabouts for weeks.

He is to be buried in his hometown of Chato next Thursday, as the nation mourns him for a period of 21 days.

– –

Just last year John Magufuli won the country’s presidential election, securing over 12.5 million votes, with opposition leader Tundu Lissu coming in second with almost 2 million votes.

Nicknamed “The Bulldozer”, Magufuli was in his first term in 2015 accused of flouting due process and brooking no criticism in the East African country once held up as a stable democracy in an often-volatile region.

Opposition figures faced violence and police intimidation, press freedom was squeezed, and political rallies banned in a steady crackdown that international rights watchdogs said was a steady erosion of freedoms.

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli is dead

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source

Regional

Africans mourn death of Tanzania’s President John Magufuli

Maravi Post Reporter

Tributes have been pouring in for Tanzania’s President John Magufuli who died of heart attack at the age of 61.

The country’s Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan made the announcement in an address on state television on Wednesday evening.

She said President Magufuli died hours earlier on Wednesday from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam.

Magufuli had not been seen in public for more than two weeks, and the announcement of his death ends speculations about his whereabouts.

African leaders and other prominent personalities on the continent have been paying their tributes to the man referred to as the “Bulldozer” for his outspokenness and strength.

– –

John Pombe Magufuli was the son of a peasant farmer who worked hard to become Tanzania’s president in 2015.

Prior to that he had worked as a teacher as well as an industrial chemist before becoming a politician with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.

In 1995 he became a member of parliament and got appointed as deputy minister of works.

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli is dead

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source

Obituaries, Regional

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli is dead

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli has died, according to the government ending days of speculations about his whereabouts.

The country’s vice president, Samia Suluhu said on live television on Wednesday evening that Magufuli succumbed to heart disease in Dar Es Salaam.

This announcement ends the search for the President of Tanzania who hasn’t been seen for weeks amid reports of ill-health.

President John Magufuli isn’t a man known to be absent from the public scene for that long as he is a regular church-goer, regular on TV, and on social media.

– –

The 61-year-old leader, very outspoken was reported to have contracted coronavirus and was rushed to Kenya for treatment.

Sooner he was reported to had gone to India for further treatment after suffering heart-attack.

But government officials refused to comment about his whereabouts for weeks even when there were reports of his death.

– –

On Monday, the same Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan told Tanzanians not to listen to rumours and urged them to remain united.

“It’s quite normal for anybody to be afflicted by illness, to contract flu or a fever… this is the time for Tanzanians to be united through prayer,” she said.

An opposition party leader, Zitto MwamiRuyagwa Kabwe said he has already spoken to the vice-president to express his condolences.

Death rumoured days ago

But the first person to report of the death of Magufuli, an ex-spy of the government said on Wednesday that he “When I broke the news re: Magufuli’s demise, my sole intention was to inform the public. Not to deceive anyone. Not to compete with anyone.

Not to confuse anyone. Not to convince anyone. The burden of proof, for those of you doubting the news, rests on you: prove me wrong.”

On Wednesday, opposition leader,  Tundu Lissu wrote on twitter that “while preparations for a military parade are going on, the VP is busy touring the country as if nothing is happening. Bob Marley said it all: ‘you can fool some people some time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. And now we see the light!’”

Covid-19 denial

President Magufuli who earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1994 and 2009 and worked as a chemist has always refused to accept the fact that Covid-19 is real and deadly, in order to protect his citizens.

Instead of following science, he didn’t encourage the adherence to safety protocols, urging people to pray and consider the virus devilish.
A top presidential aide of Mr Magufuli died hours after the vice-president of the country’s semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar died from Covid-19.

Last year, President Magufuli declared his country “coronavirus-free” saying the success was due to prayers by citizens.

He told worshippers in a church that “The corona disease has been eliminated thanks to God.”

President John Magufuli warned health officials in his country against acquiring coronavirus vaccines.

Magufuli had said that the vaccines could harm the population, but he didn’t provide any evidence to back that claim.

“The ministry of health should be careful, they should not hurry to try these vaccines without doing research, not every vaccine is important to us, we should be careful. We should not be used as ‘guinea pigs’,” Mr Magufuli said.

The start of a second term ended

Just last year John Magufuli was declared winner of the country’s presidential election, securing over 12.5 million votes, with opposition leader Tundu Lissu coming in second with almost 2 million votes.

Nicknamed “The Bulldozer”, Magufuli was in his first term in 2015 accused of flouting due process and brooking no criticism in the East African country once held up as a stable democracy in an often-volatile region.

Opposition figures faced violence and police intimidation, press freedom was squeezed, and political rallies banned in a steady crackdown that international rights watchdogs said was a steady erosion of freedoms.

Most foreign media were not allowed into Tanzania to cover the election, while local and international observer missions were also not present.

Magufuli, a former teacher also worked as an industrial chemist before becoming a politician with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.

In 1995 he became a member of parliament and got appointed as deputy minister of works.

After gaining popularity in 2010 following his appointment as Tanzania’s minister for works and transportation he nurtured the idea of assuming the presidency and becoming successful in 2015.

Africa has no option but to keep faith with AstraZeneca jabs

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source

Regional

Search for Tanzania’s ‘missing’ President continues amid opposition query

Maravi Post Reporter

– –

On Monday, Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan told Tanzanians not to listen to rumours and urged them to remain united.

“It’s quite normal for anybody to be afflicted by illness, to contract flu or a fever… this is the time for Tanzanians to be united through prayer,” she said.

But her response is just one of a few from government officials who haven’t been able to tell what is wrong with the President and why he isn’t in public.

There are already unconfirmed reports from critics of Magufuli that he is dead and there is a power struggle taking place within the government.

– –

Opposition demands answers

The secretary general of the main opposition party Chadema, John Mnyika, has said that the government has to tell people the truth.

“The government should tell us where President Magufuli is and what his health situation is. He is a president and we want to see him fulfilling his obliged responsibilities,” he said.

The opposition leader, Tunda Lissa who has been vocal on the health of the president, demanding details said he doesn’t “wish anyone dead”.

He has also question the failure of the government to be transparent about the whereabouts of the President and his health condition.

Lissa said on twitter that “While preparations for a military parade are going on, the VP is busy touring the country as if nothing is happening. Bob Marley said it all: ‘you can fool some people some time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. And now we see the light!’”

With no interest in telling citizens what has happened to the president, Tanzania’s officials are attempting to intimidate people who make comments about Magufuli’s health.

Silencing critics

Tanzania’s information minister and justice minister have all threatened those spreading rumours with jail time but could not respond to concerns about the whereabouts of the president.

At least four people have been arrested by Police in Tanzania for allegedly spreading rumours on social media that President John Magufuli is ill.

The four arrests were made in different parts of the country as the government attempts to stop reports over the whereabouts of the President.

President Magufuli had refused to accept the fact that Covid-19 is real and deadly, in order to protect his citizens.

He didn’t encourage the adherence to safety protocols, urging people to pray and consider the virus devilish.

His country hasn’t published official updates on the pandemic since last year and has refused to take precaution to protect the public.

Hopefully sooner than later the search for this outspoken African leader will end and the mystery surrounding him vanquished.

Ghana’s President says same-sex marriage ‘will never happen’ under him

Source: Africafeeds.com

Source

Health

Tanzania police makes arrests over missing president rumour

Maravi Post Reporter

But Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa rejected those reports saying “Tanzanians should be at peace. Your president is around, healthy, working hard. To spread rumours that he is sick is just an outcome of hate.”

– –

The prime minister added that the president has been busy at work indoors reviewing files.

“I have decided to say this to give hope to Tanzanians that our president is around,” he said. “If he were sick, would I talk to him on the phone? He sent his greetings to you.”

Tanzania’s ambassador in Namibia, Modestus Kipilimba has also given an official reaction saying the President is “OK, he’s going on with his job.”

Kipilimba made the comment in an interview with Namibia’s state broadcaster NBC but there has been no evidence of Magufuli in public.

– –

Tanzania’s information minister and justice minister have threatened those spreading rumours with jail time but could not respond to concerns about the whereabouts of the president.

The opposition leader, Tunda Lissa who has been vocal on the health of the president, demanding details said he doesn’t “wish anyone dead”.

He has however question the failure of the government to be transparent about the whereabouts of the President and his health condition.

Lissa said on Monday that “VP Samia suggested today that the Dictator is sick somewhere. My own sources in TISS say he’s on life support with COVID and paralyzed on one side and from the waist down after a stroke. Tell the people the truth! Release Peter Silayo na Melchiory Shayo detained in Kilimanjaro!”

Magufuli had refused to accept the fact that Covid-19 is real and deadly, in order to protect his citizens.

He didn’t encourage the adherence to safety protocols, urging people to pray and consider the virus devilish.

Tanzanians have no idea if their President is alive or dead

Source: Africafeeds.com
Source