John Magufuli

==== COVID-19 ====
{{Further|COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania|COVID-19 misinformation by governments#Tanzania}}
Magufuli promoted [[COVID-19 misinformation]] and [[misinformation related to vaccination]] during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania|pandemic in Tanzania]].<ref name="CarlitzYamanis2021"/><ref name=Makoni/> Magufuli spoke against the possibility of closing churches, stating: "That's where there is true healing. Corona is the devil and it cannot survive in the body of Jesus," reported ''[[The Economist]]'' in March 2020.<ref name="Coronavirus in Africa - Not immune"/>

By May 2020, Magufuli and Dar es Salaam regional commissioner [[Paul Makonda]] announced that the disease had been defeated by national prayer, and called for a public celebration.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tanzania Says COVID-19 Defeated With Prayer Despite Fears |url=https://time.com/5841441/tanzania-coronavirus-defeated-prayer/ |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522185628/https://time.com/5841441/tanzania-coronavirus-defeated-prayer/ |archive-date=22 May 2020 |language=en |date=22 May 2020 |url-status=dead |quote=flood the streets this weekend to celebrate. 'Make all kinds of noise as a sign of thanksgiving to show our God has won against disease and worries of death that were making us suffer.'}}</ref> "The corona disease has been eliminated thanks to God", Magufuli told the church congregation in [[Dodoma]], the country's capital. The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) has questioned the government's approach to [[COVID-19]].<ref name="BBC20200608">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52966016|title=Coronavirus: John Magufuli declares Tanzania free of Covid-19|work=BBC News|date=8 June 2020|access-date=18 March 2021}}</ref>

Magufuli instructed security forces to blindly test coronavirus [[Polymerase chain reaction|PCR]] test kits for quality on goats, papaya, sheep, and motor oil. All of them, he said, had been found to be positive for COVID-19.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/05/06/tanzania-how-can-goat-papaya-pawpaw-test-positive-to-corona-morning-call/ |title=Tanzania: goat, paw paw, jackfruit test positive for coronavirus |website=Africa News |date=6 May 2020 }}</ref> The last official data on the coronavirus in Tanzania, under President Magufuli, was published in late April 2020.<ref name="BBC20200608" /><ref name=Makoni/> Magufuli had dismissed the head of the national laboratory, and the distribution of non-governmental information on the spread of the virus had become a crime.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Farmer|first1=Ben|last2=Brown|first2=Will|last3=Vasilyeva|first3=Nataliya|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/ostrich-alliance-coronavirus-world-leaders-heads-sand/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/ostrich-alliance-coronavirus-world-leaders-heads-sand/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The 'Ostrich Alliance': Coronavirus and the world leaders embracing denial, quackery and conspiracy|work=The Telegraph|date=5 June 2010|access-date=17 March 2021|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He disputed the effectiveness of [[Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic|face masks]] and [[COVID-19 testing|testing]].<ref name="BBC20210206">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-55900680|title=Coronavirus in Tanzania: The country that's rejecting the vaccine|work=BBC News|date=6 February 2021|access-date=17 March 2021}}</ref> In July 2020, regulations were introduced to forbid the publication of "information with regards to the outbreak of a deadly or contagious disease in the country or elsewhere without the approval of the respective authorities",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://rsf.org/en/news/tanzanian-media-unable-cover-covid-19-epidemic|title=Tanzanian media unable to cover Covid-19 epidemic|publisher=Reporters Without Borders|date=5 November 2020|accessdate=21 July 2021}}</ref> with fines for breaches. As a result, many doctors felt that they were unable to officially diagnose COVID-19 out of fear of the government.<ref name="Buguzi2021"/>

Magufuli said in a January 2021 speech: "Vaccinations are dangerous. If white people were able to come up with vaccinations, a vaccination for AIDS would have been found."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Awami|first=Sammy|title=Tanzania president raises doubts over COVID vaccines|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/27/tanzania-president-denounces-covid-vaccines|access-date=17 March 2021|website=Al Jazeera|language=en}}</ref> Instead, Magufuli urged steam inhalation and [[herbal medicine]], neither of which is approved by the WHO for the treatment of COVID-19.<ref name="BBC20210206" /> However, Magufuli partially changed his position in the next month. After months of discouraging their use, he publicly asked Tanzanians to put on face masks as a precautionary measure against COVID-19. At the same time, he conditioned that only Tanzanian-made masks should be used.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magufuli urges Tanzanians to wear face mask as COVID-19 bites hard: "Sijasema msivae barakoa"|url=https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/magufuli-urges-tanzanians-to-wear-face-mask-as-covid-19-bites-hard-sijasema-msivae-barakoa/ar-BB1dTh6j|access-date=2021-12-21|website=www.msn.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=WHO Urges Tanzania to Report COVID-19 Cases Amid Concerns Over Its Pandemic Response|url=https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/who-urges-tanzania-to-report-covid-19-cases-data/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=Global Citizen|date=23 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tanzania's president admits country has COVID-19 problem|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/22/tanzanias-president-admits-country-has-covid-19-problem|access-date=2021-12-21|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en}}</ref>