Filipo Lubua
JF-Expert Member
- Nov 18, 2011
- 339
- 578
Evidently, on social media, Tanzanians (and I think, for the most part, Africans) were having fun, cracking jokes, and singing songs to mock COVID-19, as of two to one week ago. Many of us have witnessed scads of jokes circulating on social media as if, as a country, we have special immunity to diseases like this. While other countries have taken immediate measures to close their borders and ban travels from the hotspot countries, you might have seen a traditional song circulating with lyrics “karibuni Tanzania, hakuna Korona (welcome to Tanzania, there is no Corona). Needless to say, many Tanzanian 'social mediasts' did not (and some still do not) comprehend the danger an airborne and direct contact disease like Coronavirus 2019 can impose on a third-world country, especially one that has a government that invests its sheer efforts more on populism and mediocre politics as we see in Tanzania today. As of now, the disease has knocked on our doors, and we have inevitably let it in. Personally, from the beginning, I knew the situation was not going to be an easy one, and this is one thing most of us agree at the moment.
Our situation is serious and despicable. As a friend of mine said on her comment on my recent Facebook post, a nation like ours “which is closely packed and without good sanitation and medical systems will have the potential for horrendous loss of life if it [the disease] spreads anywhere near as much as it has among more affluent nations”. That is very true. We do not have running water for most households, and many people have to travel miles to get water for brushing their teeth, leave away taking a shower. In a desperate ‘sitch’ like this one, we should not expect our wash-your-hand campaigns to be very successful. Many of our people have not yet seen a mask, leave away sanitizers. Of course, very dangerously at the moment, every aspect of our daily survival requires some form of physical contact and gathering (which makes us even more vulnerable). The stay-indoor efforts which have mitigated the situation in many developed countries will not be applicable in any form in our country. People need to step out of their houses to get almost every little thing they need for their day-to-day life, be it a matchstick or flour for ugali. No one can buy anything - of their daily needs - online. In fact, to be able to buy anything, people need to be able to sell something. Most of our open markets, where people have to go sell and buy things for their daily needs, are overcrowded and are in very bad shape. It is incontestable that, as people will be exchanging goods and daily needs, sadly, they will as well be 'exchanging' the Corona disease.
As we possibly know, our health services are very lousy and unscrupulous. We have inadequate hospitals and health personnel. Actually, our health systems are the worst of our social services systems. Just to show you the existing disparity, the US is setting aside over $2.5 billion (more than 5.7 trillion shillings). How much did we (Tanzania) set aside as a country? Well, the government is trying to handle COVID-19 by using the regular operating budget which is very little. The country's entire annual budget for health services is $180 million (TZS 544 billion) only. What a derision!
Fellow Tanzanians, and Africans elsewhere, we are in a big mess. As we keep following the counsels and updates given by our leaders and medical personnel, we need to be reminded that the people upon whom we have entrusted our resources to rescue us from frightful situations, seen and unseen, do not have much time for us, especially when they know we are deeply asleep. As a matter of fact, they are constantly busy spending lavishly on our resources to defending and fortify their ‘glorious’ dominions, to guarantee a smooth, prolonged, and uninterrupted stay-in-power. As much as we think our governments have our backs and are doing everything to remedy the situations, let's remember that these wooden-headed and nutty politicians will grab our desperate situation for their political fame and idiocy. Well, you do not have to believe me on that, but at least take care of yourself, your family and loved ones, and do not forget to protect your neighbor as well.
Our main weapon right now is disseminating proper public health gens and advice to our people, especially the most vulnerable in the rural areas. We have to call our families and friends and educate them on what to do. Let's keep inculcating each other with the right measure to take at the time most of our rural folks have no idea what exactly is going on. At times like this one, jokes and mockeries will only make our nemesis more disastrous.
Most importantly, we need to get rid of these half-baked partisan politicians who put us in menacing situations with their unimplementable monotonous politics. Well, we can keep having fun on social media as we mourn, as long as we do not forget we still have some tears to shed.
All the best,
Filipo GaoLubua
Our situation is serious and despicable. As a friend of mine said on her comment on my recent Facebook post, a nation like ours “which is closely packed and without good sanitation and medical systems will have the potential for horrendous loss of life if it [the disease] spreads anywhere near as much as it has among more affluent nations”. That is very true. We do not have running water for most households, and many people have to travel miles to get water for brushing their teeth, leave away taking a shower. In a desperate ‘sitch’ like this one, we should not expect our wash-your-hand campaigns to be very successful. Many of our people have not yet seen a mask, leave away sanitizers. Of course, very dangerously at the moment, every aspect of our daily survival requires some form of physical contact and gathering (which makes us even more vulnerable). The stay-indoor efforts which have mitigated the situation in many developed countries will not be applicable in any form in our country. People need to step out of their houses to get almost every little thing they need for their day-to-day life, be it a matchstick or flour for ugali. No one can buy anything - of their daily needs - online. In fact, to be able to buy anything, people need to be able to sell something. Most of our open markets, where people have to go sell and buy things for their daily needs, are overcrowded and are in very bad shape. It is incontestable that, as people will be exchanging goods and daily needs, sadly, they will as well be 'exchanging' the Corona disease.
As we possibly know, our health services are very lousy and unscrupulous. We have inadequate hospitals and health personnel. Actually, our health systems are the worst of our social services systems. Just to show you the existing disparity, the US is setting aside over $2.5 billion (more than 5.7 trillion shillings). How much did we (Tanzania) set aside as a country? Well, the government is trying to handle COVID-19 by using the regular operating budget which is very little. The country's entire annual budget for health services is $180 million (TZS 544 billion) only. What a derision!
Fellow Tanzanians, and Africans elsewhere, we are in a big mess. As we keep following the counsels and updates given by our leaders and medical personnel, we need to be reminded that the people upon whom we have entrusted our resources to rescue us from frightful situations, seen and unseen, do not have much time for us, especially when they know we are deeply asleep. As a matter of fact, they are constantly busy spending lavishly on our resources to defending and fortify their ‘glorious’ dominions, to guarantee a smooth, prolonged, and uninterrupted stay-in-power. As much as we think our governments have our backs and are doing everything to remedy the situations, let's remember that these wooden-headed and nutty politicians will grab our desperate situation for their political fame and idiocy. Well, you do not have to believe me on that, but at least take care of yourself, your family and loved ones, and do not forget to protect your neighbor as well.
Our main weapon right now is disseminating proper public health gens and advice to our people, especially the most vulnerable in the rural areas. We have to call our families and friends and educate them on what to do. Let's keep inculcating each other with the right measure to take at the time most of our rural folks have no idea what exactly is going on. At times like this one, jokes and mockeries will only make our nemesis more disastrous.
Most importantly, we need to get rid of these half-baked partisan politicians who put us in menacing situations with their unimplementable monotonous politics. Well, we can keep having fun on social media as we mourn, as long as we do not forget we still have some tears to shed.
All the best,
Filipo GaoLubua
