Ummy Mwalimu, Tanzania’s Minister for Health today sent home a group of scientists following a complaint by President John Magufuli that the country’s experts were faking coronavirus results.
The Director of the National Health Lab in Tanzania, Dr Nyambura Moremi was suspended alongside the institution’s Quality Assurance Director Jacob Lusekelo.
The two were suspended pending an investigation will look into the claims made by President Magufuli.
Dr Nyambura holds a PhD in medical microbiology from the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg in Germany.
A committee constituted by the country’s health minister includes lead scientists in Tanzanian universities.
On Sunday, Magufuli made sensational claims that the country’s scientists may have been compromised and were releasing fake positive results on behalf of unidentified “white colonialists”.
The Tanzanian President claimed that he had personally sent samples collected from a bird, a pawpaw, and a goat which came out positive.
The last batch of results was released on Friday and showed Tanzania had 480 confirmed cases.
Magufuli has since ordered his ministers to stop release of positive results, downplaying the effect of the deadly virus.
