Author: Erick Kabendera 

Synopsis: 

Following his election in October 2015, Magufuli appeared to become an

overnight sensation on the African continent. From Kenya to South Africa

to Nigeria, he was showered with praise on the social media platform

Twitter by netizens using the hashtag #WhatWouldMagufuliDo to draw

attention to their own leaders’ failings. This popularity was triggered by

extensive media coverage of his strong criticism of Western powers.

While Magufuli’s popularity soared across the continent, the people of

Tanzania were facing a starkly different reality. Decomposing bodies of

blindfolded victims riddled with bullet wounds and stuffed into plastic

bags began to wash ashore on beaches. As the fear of the president

gripped the nation, citizens became hesitant to express anything

remotely critical, even in casual or private conversations, let alone on

social media, which was closely monitored by the president’s covert

operatives stationed at State House. As a journalist, Erick Kabendera felt

compelled to expose the truth of what was happening in his country,

irrespective of the consequences.

Working as a freelance journalist for mainly British newspapers, his

reporting angered President Magufuli, who believed Erick was a British

spy. The government-led investigations into his citizenship didn’t bear

evidence for the security agencies to prove that he was holding British

citizenship. The tension continued and reached a boiling point when he

survived two assassination attempt in 2019. It was the third attempt that

resulted in his kidnapping and disappearance before he faced charges

ranging from non-citizenship and sedition to money laundering. He

subsequently spent time in a maximum-security prison.

This book tells the story of experiences of living under cruel autocratic

regimes in a country that has struggled to become a democracy since it

gained independence in 1961, resulting in being under one party rule

since. After Magufuli’s sudden death of Covid-19 in 2021, the country

looks set to move forward as if nothing happened in the six years of

Magufuli rule, as if those years were just a bad dream to be shrugged off.

However, those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. This

memoire offers an opportunity to document and report individual stories

of the people who faced gross injustices during Magufuli’s leadership

and aims to serve as a reminder of what the country, and others like it in

the region, can so easily become when the still frail pillars of our nascent

democracy are left unprotected.