Tanzania

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli: The bulldozer crushing corruption

President John Magufuli has a no-nonsense approach to leading his country and Tanzanians are giving their approval. The article below tells his story, it first appeared in Forbes Africa and is republished with its permission. Subscribe today by contacting Shanna Jacobsen Shanna.Jacobsen@abn360.com

Africa has had its fair share of great leaders, like Nelson Mandela and Kwame Nkrumah. However, political power in Africa is often seen as an easy path to become wealthy. Too often, cronyism and patronage oil the wheels of governments, ensuring that corruption goes unpunished and impunity reigns. Enter Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, who is defying all the purportedly accepted norms of African leadership.

Magufuli wasted no time. His firm stance on fighting corruption, his introduction of severe austerity measures, and his seemingly aggressive development agenda, have earned him accolades. The United Nations Economic and Social Council recently named him the World’s Best President.

With just one year in office, Magufuli has amalgamated several ministries, downsizing his cabinet from 30 members to 19. He has banned the purchase of first class air tickets for ministers, and government meetings and conferences are now held in state buildings rather than high-end hotels. To the dismay of senior officials, he auctioned off their luxury cars, seen as both a right and a necessity, with the generated income being channeled into public services. He has also banned any future purchase of such vehicles.

“The president’s approach so far has been commendable and his battle with corruption impeccable. I think he will sustain his current style and won’t be putting his guns down anytime soon,” says Nicodemus Minde, a Tanzanian political analyst.

By channeling resources back into Tanzania’s economy, Magufuli’s austerity measures have been lauded and the impact is already being felt. His somewhat autocratic style is facilitated by the powers allocated to the Tanzanian Presidency. These allow him to appoint and dismiss officials, and to leverage state security apparatus to flush out and punish corruption and economic crime. He has pledged to double development spending, funded by cutting government wastage, which may enable economic gains to trickle down.

Although a chemical engineer by profession, Magufuli is not new to politics. He has been an active member of parliament for two decades, heading various ministries throughout his tenure. His radical, yet effective, methods of governance set an example for transparency, good governance and strict control of government spending. Tanzanians have grown to love his style, while citizens of neighboring nations look on enviously, hoping their leaders will take a leaf from his pragmatic book.

Ali Mufuruki, Chairman and CEO at InfoTech Investment Group, describes Magufuli’s style as steadfast.

“He has demonstrated a unique kind of consistency, an undiminishing stamina and an unswerving steadiness in his fight against the vices of corruption, abuse of office and waste of public resources.”

While Magufuli’s first year in office has been impressive, it remains to be seen whether this will translate into more economic growth, given that Tanzania was already growing by 7.9% in the second quarter of 2016. His success so far has been met with skepticism in some quarters, with some pundits warning that celebrations may be premature.

Magufuli has taken up the challenge of transforming his developing nation into a world-class economy and shown a willingness to challenge the long-standing negative views about African leadership. Years from now, Magufuli’s name might be mentioned alongside Mandela and Nkrumah.

Authorities in Tanzania said this week efforts were afoot to re-brand the East African nation as Africa's leading tourist and business destination.

Lazaro Nyalandu, the minister for natural resources and tourism, said President Jakaya Kikwete will next month launch television advertisements aimed at promoting the country's tourist attractions as part of the re-branding.

Nyalandu said Pursuit Production, a US based firm, has already been tasked with filming tourist attractions and producing advertisements which CNN and the BBC World Service will air worldwide.

Dubbed 'Re-branding Destination Tanzania,' the filming and production of the television advertisements will cost US$1,5 million, said Nyalandu.

"I am optimistic that the advertisements will boost tourist arrivals," the minister said, adding that the tourism industry has of late been greatly affected by outbreak of the Ebola virus negatively covered by international media with many implying the scourge was all over Africa.

"The firm has finished filming tourist attractions in Zanzibar, and is now filming Serengeti before proceeding to Kilimanjaro Mountain and Ngorongoro Crater, among others," Nyalandu said.

He said the government and development partners were footing the cost of the re-branding estimated to attract at least 2,5 million tourists annually in the next five years as opposed to only 1.3 million tourists visiting the country annually at the moment.

Tourism directly employs nearly half a million Tanzanians and it represents approximately 3,4% of Tanzania's total GDP but the level could reach an estimated 10% considering its indirect impact on other areas such as agriculture and transportation.

Tanzania Tourist Board kicks up contacts at ITB

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli: The bulldozer crushing corruption