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Paper short abstract:

John Magufuli, Tanzania’s former president, passed away unexpectedly during his tenure in 2021. After his death, urban legends started to spread amongst Tanzanians on social media platforms according to which Magufuli’s death had other reasons than the officially announced heart condition.

Paper long abstract:

I was surprised to stumble upon urban legends in Tanzania in 2022 about the country’s former president John Magufuli (2015 - 2021). Magufuli passed away suddenly in 2021 and some Tanzanians think that there is more to his death than a heart condition, the official explanation of the government, or Corona, the opposition’s interpretation of why Magufuli died.

Interestingly, urban legends started to spread and propagated fast online according to which Magufuli’s death had other reasons than the heart condition or Covid-19. The virality of these urban legends has contributed to increasing mistrust regarding Western influence in Tanzanian and even in African governmental affairs generally.

Magufuli was a critic of international - and particularly of Western influence in Tanzania and Africa more broadly. He emphasised in many of his speeches that the continued dependency of Tanzania and the African continent on the West must stop.

For many Tanzanian citizens, there was no satisfying explanation for Magufuli’s sudden death in 2021 which seems to have been food for imagination, especially on social media platforms. In the context of a discourse analysis, I collect the urban legends that have emerged in the Digital which have shaped the political views of many Tanzanians in an essential way.

The acceptance of these urban legends on social media platforms translates to mistrust regarding politics and the official statements of politicians as people. At the same time, the Digital shows the potential of being a space for sharing feelings of mistrust and controversial opinions in Tanzania.