The high cost of Magufuli error

Unlike Kenya, sages, or “philosopher-kings,” have generally ruled Tanzania. That’s until President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli. President Magufuli was arguably the most educated of that elite group, but his PhD in chemistry didn’t help his understanding of Covid-19.

I am getting ahead of myself. First, I convey my condolences to his family and the people of Tanzania. Tanzania is close to my heart. The state and the people took me in – and fully embraced and protected me – when my own native Kenya exiled me there in 1981. I wouldn’t be who I am but for Tanzania. However, today I want to speak truth to power. Dr Magufuli was an error for Tanzania. That’s fact, even as I mourn him.

At Julius Caesar’s funeral, Marcus Junius Brutus and the assassin conspirators of the famous dictator allowed Mark Antony to give a eulogy. There was one condition – that Antony not blame Brutus and the killers for the act of tyrannicide. What followed is one of the greatest and memorable lines in all of William Shakespeare’s works.

Alcoholic intoxicant

In Julius Caesar Act III, Scene II, Antony begun tongue-in-cheek by saying “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” Sarcastically, he repeatedly addressed Brutus and the killers as “honourable men.” For me, President Magufuli is one such “honourable man.” Despite his good intentions, he left Tanzania the worse off for his mercurial and dictatorial rule.

There were a number of unusual things about Dr Magufuli. The first is a pet peeve of mine. The man had not one, but two, European names for a grand total of four. He was John but also Joseph. Then there was Pombe, Kiswahili for an alcoholic intoxicant. To top it all, he was nicknamed the “Bulldozer.” That, in my books, isn’t a term of endearment.

Rather, it’s the description of a person who must get his way, no matter what. It’s his way, or the highway. In a democracy, where consultation and give and take are the menu of governance, a boorish – and bullying – approach doesn’t augur well. It speaks to an inner craving for a messianic complex.

Pan-Africanism

I hope I am not accused of speaking ill of the dead, which I am told is “un-African.” We must have open dialogues with our leaders, especially those who are still living, by communing with those who’ve left us. For in this esoteric indulgence, we hope the living can hear us, and correct the error of their ways.

 That’s why a death should give us permission to speak rather than silence, or censor, us. For if we continue to lie to one another, we shall never correct our mistakes. In fact, we will be doomed to repeat them because of our willful failure to learn from history. Why protect a past that doesn’t have redeeming recommendations for the future?

I have always loved Tanzania because of its deep pan-Africanism, sense of destiny, and largely patriotic elite. The country was a Black Mecca – the destination for peoples of African descent – no matter their domicile – to seek refuge. It was in Tanzania that the African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress of South Africa plotted against Apartheid.

Tanzania hosted, or gave support, to Mozambique’s Frelimo, Namibia’s Swapo, Zimbabwe’s Zapu and Zanu, and other liberators, including African-Americans fleeing White Supremacy in America. It gave refuge to me and other Kenyans and Ugandans fleeing dictatorships in post-colonial African states. This is the enduring legacy of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Tanu, and later CCM. That Tanzania is still alive and well, and endures.

Democracy

President Magufuli interrupted Tanzania’s democratic creeds within. He repressed press freedom and permitted widespread human rights abuses. He flouted the rule of law and eviscerated the guardrails of democracy through unconstitutional diktats and one-man rule policies. He turned senior officials into frightened automatons and sycophants.

 He caused the exile of opponents. Killings and attacks on civil society and the opposition, including Chadema’s presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, were truly catastrophic. He made Tanzanians long for the eras of presidents Nyerere, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Benjamin Mkapa, and Jakaya Kikwete, which now look golden. The hope now is that his VP Samia Suluhu Hassan – who is now President, will return Tanzania to the democratic path.

The first, and most important, task for President Hassan is to restore the state’s credibility on Covid-19. She must end Covid denialism on day one. It’s sad the government is still denying that President Magufuli died of the virus.

There’s no shame in being ill from Covid-19. Perhaps Dr Magufuli would still be with us had he protected himself from the virus by social distancing, wearing a mask, and mandating Tanzanians do so.

Instead, he touted steam inhalations, concoctions, and prayers in packed churches and mosques with unmasked congregants. Many senior officials and ordinary people have perished in what history will know as the Magufuli Error.

 @makaumutua