Picking facts to suit your narrative
The New York Times did not tell the full story of John Magafuli
The article below is a direct response to a New York Times article published on the 17th of March titled: John Magafuli, Tanzanian Leader Who Played Down Covid, Dies at 61.
On the 17th of March, the Tanzanian government announced that President John Magafuli was dead. Prior to his death he had not been seen in public for almost a month and rumours of his whereabouts were circulating. One such rumour, pushed by the opposition leader, suggested that Magafuli was in Kenya receiving medical treatment. Another rumour, also pushed by the opposition, implied that Magafuli had made it all the way to India in search of healthcare. These rumours were damaging to Magafuli’s reputation as a ‘Tanzania first’, ‘we don’t need outside help’, kind of leader. These rumours were pushed by the opposition and now feature heavily in all reports of his death.
The article published by the New York Times on the 17th of March is one such report. It explicitly places doubt over the cause of Magafuli’s death, with no evidence put forward that there should be any doubt at all. The author, Abdi Latif Dahir, says that “the announcement [of Magafuli’s death] followed more than a week of intense speculation that Mr Magafuli was critically ill with Covid-19.” Dahir links another New York Times article, written by him, as a source for this information. In this article Dahir uses Tundu Lissu, the opposition leader, as his main source to disseminate these rumours. He even links directly to a tweet from Lissu.
The reasons as to why Lissu wants to push this narrative are obvious. Magafuli has built a reputation not only in Africa but globally as a ‘Covid-19 denier’. He has promoted miracle cures and claimed that Covid-19 does not exist within the borders of Tanzania. The irony of Magafuli then becoming sick from the virus is too good for the opposition leader to pass up. It is also clear why it would be important for Magafuli to deny this rumour.
But there is another side to the story. It is not unusual for a leader that has built a strongman aura around him being an energetic workaholic to disappear when he is sick (Magafuli’s motto was Hapa Ni Kazi Tu which translates roughly to Our Focus is Work). He does not want to show weakness. Whether this is right or wrong is another thing, but it is not unusual. Secondly, the government announced that Magafuli died of an underlying heart condition. In 2019 rumours circulated that Magafuli had been suffering of a heart condition.
The second claim that Dahir makes is how Magafuli will be remembered. He says “the leader, popularly known as “the Bulldozer”, was soon accused of muzzling dissent, rolling back freedom of expression and association, and pushing through laws that shored up his Party of the Revolution’s grip on power”. What Dahir fails to mention in his article is the love that many Tanzanians had for John Magafuli, even if he did not fit the bill of a liberal democratic leader.
Magafuli kickstarted state departments that had long sat dormant and had become incredibly inefficient. He hired people who wanted to work to bring Tanzania forward. He rebooted the economy with largescale and very necessary infrastructure projects that both created jobs and improved transport. He also cracked down on corruption and helped domestic Tanzanian businesses grow, relying less on the external help of NGOs and MNCs.
While there are downsides to this – he rarely looked to find compromise or seek approval and instead “bulldozed” his way to getting what he wanted (for more check the NYT article) – an argument could be made that Tanzania needed a president to do something for its people and Magafuli did just that. In light of his death I think he will be remembered fondly by a large proportion of Tanzanian citizens, instead of how the ‘west’ wishes to portray him.
The New York Times article frames Magafuli as a typical African ‘big man’ leader who bullied his way to a presidency and became authoritarian. While I do not doubt that Magafuli had some traits of an authoritarian leader, to presume that this was inevitable, as many western media outlets have done, seems to me like they are trying to fit Magafuli into a box that fits their already established narrative on African leaders.
— Jonathan (@lonnyjewis)
Picking facts to suit your narrative
Very good article - while Magafuli had his faults, which were a worry, he also made inroads into infrastructure and promoted a sense of pride and work ethic which many Tanzanians respected. His growing authoritarianism and Tanzania first approach was a concern. Article is a good counterbalance to narrow viewpoints
Nice to read something which talks about his presidency aside from covid