Covid-19: Chadema orders its MPs to stop attending parliamentary sessions

Dar es Salaam.  Tanzania’s main opposition party-Chadema has directed all its Members of Parliament among other things, to stop attending parliamentary sessions and committees immediately.
In a statement signed by the party chairman Freeman Mbowe today, May 1, 2019, the party directs its members not to go near the two parliament buildings, both Dodoma and Dar es Salaam as a way to avoid being infected with the novel coronavirus.
“The party has continued to receive with deep sadness deaths of the parliamentarians and other Tanzanians amid the spread of Covid-19... We direct all of our members to self-isolate for not less than two weeks,” reads the statement in part.
“We urge our MPs who are in Dodoma not to go to the constituencies but to remain in Dodoma (in quarantine) until proven safe and or to receive any other formal instructions,” the statement adds.
In addition, the party has urged MPs from other political parties to reflect on whether it is safe to continue with the parliamentary sessions in the existing environment.
The statement advised parliament to take the various steps including suspension of parliamentary activities for 21 days to allow MPs and all workers in parliament to go into self isolation.
The statements further provides that the party calls on medical test to all parliamentarians, workers and their families to determine how many are already infected with the virus so that appropriate medical measures can be taken.
 “Specific parliamentary committees, particularly the parliamentary services committee and the steering committee, will conduct their meetings online, in order to make important decisions about the administration of parliament and ensure that important issues are discussed.”