- The maverick said that prayers had worked after his son who had contracted the virus healed and started doing press-ups.
- His remarks follow immense criticism after his government refused to order a lockdown.
President John Magufuli has told Tanzanians that prayers and herbs can heal Covid-19 patients.
The maverick said that prayers had worked after his son who had contracted the virus healed and started doing press-ups.
“Nina mtoto wangu alipata corona, mtoto wa kuzaa mimi, amejifungia kwenye chumba akaanza kujitibu, akanywa malimau na tangawizi, amepona yuko mzima sasa anapiga push up{My child tested coronavirus positive but was treated using home remedies and is now doing push ups},” Magufuli said on Sunday.
He spoke during a church service at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania in Chato -his hometown.
His remarks follow immense criticism after his government refused to order a lockdown.
On Saturday, President Uhuru Kenyatta closed the Kenyan-Tanzanian border after the US warned that Tanzania was in crisis because of a large number of unreported cases.
In response, the Tanzanian government ordered that cargo from Kenya will not be allowed into the country and instead, will be offloaded at the border.
“I thank religious leaders who have been praying to God to lead me during this pandemic. So you can see the trend how Lord, our God, has responded to our prayers,” Magufuli said in a statement.
He is now considering three more days for thanksgiving, where Tanzanians can pray to thank God because of a major drop in Covid-19 cases.
He added that the country’s reported Covid-19 pandemic cases were going down across all hospitals in the country.
He, however, did not give any new numbers but read a list indicating patients who had been discharged.
He told Tanzanians to focus on farming so that they could feed neighbouring Kenyans, where there is lockdown and farming has stopped.
However, Kenya is not on a national lockdown, and farming has not stopped, albeit floods in some areas.
Magufuli also retaliated that he won’t lock down Tanzania since it will have a negative impact on socio-economic growth.
“Hatuwezi kubali corona itawale, Mungu wetu atatawala… tumekua na magonjwa kama ukimwi… (We can’t allow the virus to rule, our God will prevail ….we have had many diseases like HIV-Aids),” he said.
Magufuli said prayers have pushed Covid-19 cases down and was planning to reopen learning institutions and allow tourists into Tanzania very soon.
He added that Covid-19 should not be an excuse for Tanzanian leaders who are expected to serve the citizens diligently.
ODM leader Raila Odinga, a long-time friend of Magufuli, criticised the Tanzanian leader for the approach in managing Covid-19, saying it could be a catalyst to the calamity in the region.
In a BBC interview, Raila termed Magufuli's approach as defiant for disregarding his EAC counterparts’ appeal to abandon his unconventional approach to the contagion.
“This is a regional issue and…our destiny is tied together. We don’t want a situation where a country will be forced to close its boundaries against the other, dialogue is the best way,” told BBC last week.
Edited by E.Kibii