East Africa: Witch doctors and politicians ruin workers’ lives
Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 10:12AM
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EAST AFRICA, April 29— Progressive Labor Party (PLP) here blames capitalist government misleaders for the criminal management of the pandemic. They insist that people continue to work, minimizing the danger of the disease while the infections continue on a daily basis. Initially, they closed the schools and universities but, illogically, told people to go to church, and kept the borders and airports open.
In some countries like Tanzania, President John Magafuli called for three days of national prayers to defeat the coronavirus which he described as a very small disease. Since April 22, when he talked with the head of the military, no new updates of cases or deaths have been reported. The government is covering up the numbers of infected and dead and where the disease has spread. Tanzania has only one laboratory in the country and only Arusha and Dar es Salaam have the capacity to test and treat Covid-19 patients. Officials in those cities are burying the victims at night, to maintain the cover up.
 Electoral false hope won’t beat disease
While Covid-19 spreads, the government is actively organizing for the general elections in October. The ruling party is warning people that areas that vote for the opposition will not get development funds. They formed a fake opposition party to fool people into thinking that it will be a free and fair election. The masses are not fooled by this and have been refusing to register to vote.  The working class has been passive in response to the criminal deceit and mismanagement of the pandemic.
Witch doctors are telling people they have a cure, so many people with symptoms are not going to hospitals. We cannot rely on the government or non-scientific witch doctors to keep us safe. Where we live, PLP members are going house to house to educate people about how to protect themselves against the virus, especially the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. Workers need science, not lies that prey on workers.
In addition, we condemned the racism  in the U.S. and China and want to join with others in doing so. PLP is at the forefront of the fight against capitalism and we express our class solidarity with the workers of the world who are facing this disease because of capitalism’s failure to provide decent healthcare and protect us in health emergencies.

Article originally appeared on The Revolutionary Communist Progressive Labor Party (http://www.plparchive.org/).
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