To contain the coronavirus pandemic, the Tanzanian president did not implement measures adopted by the majority of the countries in the world. He just told his people to trust God amidst the threat of COVID-19.
President John Pombe Magufuli did not impose lockdowns or measures and rejected the need for vaccines to fight the virus. Instead, he adopted a religious response of trusting God. The bishops, on the other hand, urged the people to adhere to mask wearing, social distancing and sanitizing, LifeSiteNews wrote.
According to VOA News, Magufuli has warned the country's health ministry over rushing to get COVID-19 vaccines, expressing his doubt on the effectiveness of the vaccines created by Western countries.
"If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, then vaccinations for AIDS would have been brought, tuberculosis would be a thing of the past, vaccines for malaria and cancer would have been found," he said.
Instead, he instructed the Ministry of Health to adopt the vaccines only after certification from Tanzanian experts saying that the citizens of the country must not be used as guinea pigs for vaccine trials.
The report further said that Magufuli told his officials to promote herbs to cure symptoms of the virus.
In his speech in Western Tanzania on Wednesday, he told the people to continue trusting God saying that they "have lived for over one year without the virus because our God is able, and Satan will always fail."
More to LifeSiteNews' report, the president also refused to impose lockdowns believing that God will protect the people.
"We Tanzanians haven't locked ourselves in and we don't expect to lock ourselves down. I don't expect to announce any lockdown because our God is living and He will continue to protect Tanzanians," he said.
On the other hand, through a letter released by Tanzanian Episcopal Conference (TEC), signed by its president, Archbishop Gervais Nyaisonga, bishops encouraged the people to take precautions.
"Let us not stop praying, maintaining social distance, washing and sanitising our hands, taking the necessary action when we see signs of illness and avoid congestion which can be dangerous. There is a new wave of coronavirus infections and several countries have confirmed that they are going through a difficult period in the spread of the coronavirus and the occurrence of fatalities," the letter said.
"Our country is not an island ... We must defend ourselves, take precautions, and cry out to God with all our might so that this scourge will not overtake us," TEC added.
In addition, the country's Archbishop of Arusha Isaac Amani also wrote a letter to his congregation and clergy a week earlier, indicating his concern over the president's response to the pandemic.
"Many precautions such as avoiding the shaking of hands, taking offerings after communion and receiving the Body of Christ on the hand, seem to have been forgotten," Amani said.
The archbishop also suggested practicing wearing of masks, which the Tanzanian president refused to do and implement. Magufuli has reportedly even complimented a priest and congregation for not wearing masks in church.
In addition, Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa'ichi of Tanzania's Dar es Salaam Archdiocese also wrote a letter saying that the virus "is not over; COVID-19 still exists."
According to Google's COVID-19 alert, Tanzania currently has 509 recorded cases.
