Diamond Platnumz, a Tanzanian music musician, has removed all of his Instagram postings supporting President Samia Suluhu Hassan. This is because many people were angry with him and threatened him, saying he was siding with the powerful above the people.
Just a day before, the famous Bongo Flava singer had posted a long statement praising President Suluhu’s leadership as the country prepared to vote.
Diamond called her a smart and hard-working leader who has made significant changes in important areas, including education, health, agriculture, and infrastructure, in the post that has since been taken down.
He went on to say that he would fully support the president and her running partner, promising them his vote and those of his friends.
The message, which was written in Swahili, concluded with kind words wishing her luck in the election. Many Tanzanians saw this as ignorant of the broad political unrest.
But instead of getting applause, Diamond’s homage made a lot of people angry.
Thousands of Tanzanians filled his comments area, saying he had betrayed regular people and ignored mounting worries about the fairness of the election process.
Some others even said they would stop listening to his music and damage his Wasafi Studios if he kept supporting the president.
“You have chosen the side of power instead of the people,” one angry user said, echoing what many others were saying on social media.
By Thursday night, all signs of the messages were gone from his official page, which was regarded as giving in to pressure.
His initially passionate affection for the governing party has quickly changed into careful quiet.
Unconfirmed claims on social media say that Diamond, Zuchu, and his family have left the country.
On the other side, many of the famous people who supported the administration have stopped talking. In the weeks running up to the election, many people supported President Samia.
Rayvanny, Zuchu, Harmonise, and Ali Kiba are musicians who have posted tributes or gone to pro-government events in the past. They have all stopped posting online.
Their old postings are still there, but they haven’t said anything since then, which seems like an effort to stay out of the debate.