US Ambassador to Tanzania Inmi Patterson in trouble With President Magafuli for revealing ‘Real’Covid-19 situation

DODOMA-(MaraviPost)-President John Pombe Magufuli’s government has taken issues with the United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Tanzania, Chargé d’Affaires Inmi Patterson, for allegedly revealing COVID-19 data to the world without the government’s knowledge.

According to reports released this Tuesday evening, Chargé d’Affaires Inmi Patterson has been ordered to only share data that has been verified or rather issued by the government.

In recent weeks, she has been taking to social media to issue contradicting information from Tanzania.

While President Magufuli was preaching a victory message against COVID-19 and even calling upon re-opening of schools, Ambassador Patterson has been giving contradicting statements that indicate COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania is still wreaking havoc.

For instance on Monday, she gave a statement asking US citizens in Tanzania to prepare their things ahead of US government repatriation flights in Tanzania.

She noted that the risk of contracting COVID-19 in Tanzania’s Capital was too high besides the country having limited bed capacity in major hospitals.

The statement raised eyebrows because the Magufuli government had said patients had drastically reduced from hospitals.

“The risk of contracting COVID-19 in Dar es Salaam is extremely high. Despite limited official reports, all evidence points to the exponential growth of the epidemic in Dar and other locations in Tanzania.

“The Embassy has strongly recommended that U.S. government personnel and their families remain at home except for essential activities (e.g., grocery shopping) and substantially limit into private homes the entry of anyone but regular residents.

“Many hospitals in Dar es Salaam have been overwhelmed in recent weeks. Limited hospital capacity throughout Tanzania could result in life-threatening delays for medical care, including for those with COVID-19,” read the statement in part, which was shared on Twitter.

This has triggered the government to order that from today, any data related to COVID-19 in Tanzania get verified before Ambassador Patterson publishes it.

Source: Swahili Times/zimeye.net

Lloyd M’bwana

I’m a Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resource (LUANAR)’s Environmental Science graduate (Malawi) and UK’s ICM Journalism and Media studies scholar. Also University of Malawi (UNIMA) Library Science Scholar. I have been The Malawi Country Manager and duty editor for the Maravi Post since 2019. My duty editor’s job is to ensure that the news is covered properly, that it is delivered on time, and that it is created to the standards set out in the editorial guidelines of the Maravi Post.