President Suluhu To Set up Covid-19 Taskforce, Reopens Banned Media Houses

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu has announced plans to set up a committee of experts to review the country’s Covid-19 measures.

Speaking on Tuesday, the head of state said the team will be guided by the guidelines provided by world health authorities on ways to combat the spread of the virus.

“We can’t accept everything without a thorough research,” the president said after administering oaths of new and reshuffled permanent secretaries and deputies.

She added that there is need to work with the international community on how to handle the pandemic that has ravaged the world for over a year.

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During late president John Magufuli’s reign, the East African country denied the presence of the virus.

In June 2020, Magufuli who was suspected to have succumbed to the virus, declared the country Coronavirus-free.

But in February this year before he disappeared from the public eye, the late head of state told his people to wear masks that were locally made.

“Tanzanians should take caution and use masks made in the country including those of the country’s medical board because there is doubt about the efficacy of masks from other countries,” Magufuli said.

He told the people to continue praying so that God can rid the world of the killer virus.

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“Let us continue putting our faith in God because other methods such as wearing masks, social distancing, and lockdowns are not effective. Countries implementing them are still recording deaths in thousands,” he added.

The president also ordered the reopening of media houses previously sanctioned by the Magufuli administration.

She did, however, caution journalists to follow the law.

In the period leading up to the October 2020 polls, the Magufuli government imposed regulations that bar domestic broadcasters from airing foreign-made content without state approval.

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The new regulations announced in August 2020 further required a government official to accompany any local journalist when covering a story with a foreigner.

Some of the journalists working with foreign media houses protested the punitive regulations but they were never reviewed.

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