NAIROBI – On just one day this month, 50 Tanzanian truck drivers tested positive for the coronavirus after crossing into neighboring Kenya.
Back home, their president insists that Tanzania has defeated the disease through prayer. All the while, President John Magufuli has led a crackdown on anyone who dares raise concerns about the virus’s spread in his East African country or the government’s response to it.
Critics have been arrested, and opposition politicians and rights activists say their phones are being tapped. The country's number of confirmed virus cases hasn't changed for three weeks, and the international community is openly worrying that Tanzania's government is hiding the true scale of the pandemic.