East Africa lawyers dare new Tanzanian leadership on Covid-19

Lawyers under the East Africa Law Society have called upon the new leadership of Tanzania to effectively combat the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
The leadership of the late President John Pombe Magufuli, had largely been criticized for not putting into place measures to minimise the spread of the pandemic and also stopped publishing the statistics on virus spread in the country.

"One of the other things that Dr John Pombe Magufuli legacy will be defined is how he dealt with the Covid-19 crisis. I think, it is a lesson for us to learn that at the end of the day, there is preservation of life by taking Covid-19 measures to preserve the lives of our people," the president of the East Africa Law Society, Mr Bernard Oundo made the call Friday while paying tribute to President Magufuli at the Tanzania High Commission in Kampala.
Mr Oundo lauded other East African leaders for their effort in containing the spread of the virus.

“To that effect, we must applaud the governments of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi for having seriously taken and observed the Covid-19 measures," he said.
President Magufuli, succumbed to heart related complications on March 17, according to Tanzanian government.

However, the opposition leaders claimed he died from Covid-19 which he had under looked as he never imposed any lockdown and enforcement of the wearing of face masks and other measures to curb on the spread of the pandemic.
Magufuli, who was nicknamed "the bulldozer" for his successful programme of building infrastructure when he was the Works minister, was immediately succeed by his deputy, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan.

According to the Tanzania Constitution, President Samia will finish Magufuli's five-year term, which he had served for mere months following his re-election last year.
Further, while paying his last respects, Mr Oundo urged the remaining African leaders to emulate the good that the late Magufuli did like the fight against corruption, unnecessary government expenditure but also learn from his mistakes.

"The message for the remaining East African Society leaders is to learn from and emulate the good he did. For us as the East Africa Law Society, we will choose to share the good lessons that Magufuli left behind but also caution the leaders in East African Community to respect the rule of law because it's fundamental for the development of economies." Mr Oundo cautioned the remaining East African leaders.

At his time of his demise, President Magufuli had been accused of turning dictatorial but suppressing dissenting voices like lawyers, journalists and civil society organisations.
Magufuli, 61, was laid to rest yesterday at his ancestral home of Chato, about 10 days after his demise.
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