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| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Suzan Kolimba. |
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Suzan Kolimba issued the government position in relation to the report published in the Economist, in which it criticised the decisions that President John Magufuli made since he took office. Dr Kolimba said every Tanzanian who wishes the country good must appreciate the good job being done by Dr Magufuli.
“We, as Tanzanians, irrespective of our political ideologies, religious inclinations and tribal lines, must appreciate the performance of the President. In this case, everyone has the duty to defend this country, including protecting the President’s image when it is deliberately distorted by international media,” she said.
She said there is no doubt that some individuals with interests best known to themselves will do everything in their power to paint the image of the President black, provided they achieve their goals. “All the decisions that President Magufuli made since he took office were aimed at benefiting the country. He has never made decisions to suit his personal interests. Fortunately enough, the general public acknowledges this fact,” Dr Kolimba said.
According to the Deputy Minister, it is imperative for the media fraternity in the country to correct with facts any distorted information by the international media. “Before Dr Magufuli took office, the country’s economy and other affairs were in bad shape. His performance has taken the world by surprise, as he has proven that he is a person who can make bold decisions.
We must support him,” she added. She stressed, “The noises from outside can not derail our focus. We look neither east nor west, we look forward.” Dr Benson Bana, a political scientist with the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), said it is the duty of every citizen to protect the country’s image. He said Tanzanians are responsible for defending their country, including protecting the image of the President when some individuals deliberately tarnish it for their personal interests.
“The best thing about our country now is that we have a very strong office of the Chief Government Spokesperson, which has been doing a tremendous job. Media should emulate the good example of this office in defending the government,” he said. The reaction has come some few days after the Economist - an international magazine - published a piece, criticising some decisions made by President Magufuli.
However, the criticism on the President that touched on matters related to holding leaders accountable, reforms in taxation, education, democracy were countered by a Belgian health expert working with an international NGO in East Africa, Dr Herman Louise Verhofstadt, who posted his analysis on Pan Africa News Hub The Belgian national, who is currently ending his tenure in Tanzania after working with poor communities for four years, said that after reading the Economist this week, a publication known for its top notch ethical and analytical standards, noted that the standards have deteriorated and transformed into sensational journalism, half-baked stories, lack of objectivity and with clear sense of bias.
“Contrary to the fact deprived article, it is my candid observation that to objectively critique Magufuli’s presidency in the circumstances of the transformation he is doing for his people in Tanzania, requires the level of conscious that is unfortunately lacking in the current editorial team at the Economist,” he said.
He added that, “Living in Tanzania for close to half a decade now, it makes me a better eyewitness than the Westminster based editorial team. To say the least, this man Magufuli rose into power in a country that was downed by massive corruption scandals, political demonstrations that caused deaths and worse enough he found media fraternity that was being corrupted to work for interest groups,” Verhofstadt said.
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