Several Tanzanians on the social media platform X (Twitter) are changing their profiles on the platform. A number of accounts now have the photo of Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo as their profile picture.
They are doing this as a mark of appreciation to the journalist and the team at CNN who recently published an investigative report on the fatal violence that has rocked the East African nation.
On X, one account with the username @Sativa2555 urged other Tanzanians to use Madowo’s picture, as it’s the best way they can show their gratitude for his work.
“I request that we start a campaign here. Let’s all put this guy on our profile picture for a week as a tribute to what he did 🙌. We have nothing to pay him except to show him great respect; I submit a motion,” wrote the user in Swahili.
It is poetic that this move has begun on X, a platform the Tanzanian government under Samia Suluhu has blocked access to on several occasions.
It’s a symbolic approach reminiscent of Kenya, where X users adopted the late Jacob Juma’s image as their profile photo at the height of protests. In Kenya, this was done as Jacob Juma’s old posts were deemed a fitting premonition of the current government.
CNN Investigation on Tanzania
After a presidential election in which the state aggressively undermined an open democratic process, Tanzania was plunged into unrest, with reports indicating multiple fatalities.
This prompted a CNN team that had Larry Madowo, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Florence Davey-Attlee to investigate the violence and reports of mass graves. This week, they published a report titled ‘Oh my God, this is our Tanzania’.
The report featured geo-located videos, audio forensic analysis of the shots fired and first-hand accounts from witnesses. Madowo and his colleagues spoke to victims to document the brutality unleashed on young demonstrators by the state.
READ: Internet Blackout Costs Tanzania Over $238 Million in Economic Losses
Madowo and his team also analyzed and verified videos which corroborated witness accounts of high death tolls and mortuaries overwhelmed by an influx of bodies.
CNN also tapped into satellite images and videos, which revealed disturbing images of recently disturbed soil that allude to possible mass graves. The report has been received with shock in the world and has returned the spotlight firmly on Tanzania’s state brutality.
