How Magufuli’s no-nonsense leadership is changing Tanzania

Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has been turning heads in the region being not travelling outside his country.

When he visited Nairobi for the first time as President on Monday, the austerity buff found himself talking about his domestic policies.

“I have explained to the President (Uhuru Kenyatta) the reality in Tanzania: That we are developing,” he told journalists at State House Nairobi.

“We are working towards ensuring our country moves forward. We want Tanzanians to pay taxes, we are striving to defeat corruption, and we are working hard to ensure Tanzanians and Tanzania develop.”

Dr Magufuli is only making his third visit abroad, having previously travelled to Rwanda (twice) and Uganda.

Addicted to efficiency, the former chemistry teacher rose to Presidency mainly because his party, CCM, did not see the former Prime Minister and frontrunner Edward Lowassa as good for publicity.

Magufuli would defeat Lowassa, who had defected to the opposition. Magufuli is now Tanzania’s fifth president after Julius Nyerere, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Ben Mkapa and Jakaya Kikwete.

Magufuli austerity has seen him reduce the size of delegation to a Commonwealth conference in Malta, which he himself did not attend.

He has barred government officials from making unsanctioned international trips and cancelled Independence Day celebrations to cut costs.

JPM, as he is fondly known in Tanzania, has also decreed that government officials travelling on taxpayers money must fly economy.

SLASHED BUDGET

He also slashed the budget for national celebrations by $93,000 (Sh9.3 million) to launch new parliament buildings to Sh700, 000 and ordered his government officials to hold seminars within their offices but not fancy resorts.

Then he went very hands-on: One time, he ambushed workers at the Ministry of Finance only to find they had reported, hanged their jackets and left for private business.

Then he turned up at a port clearance centre where officials could not demonstrate how the system works. He has been travelling locally by road other than fly. Some critics that waste time but he is not deterred.

Last month, Magufuli fired two government officials over “fake” bank account meant to siphon money meant for survivors of an earthquake in the northern part of the country where 16 people died.

Five months earlier, he had sacked a minister for reportedly showing up at a parliamentary inquiry while drunk.

“I hope he teaches our President Uhuru something about fighting corruption,” tweeted Ekuru Aukot, who was Secretary for the Panel of experts that wrote the Constitution, and who has vowed to contest for Presidency next year.

Both Magufuli and statistics show his style is working. Tanzania’s ranking on the Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International has improved, coming second to Rwanda in the region, and ahead of Kenya, Uganda and Burundi.

This ranking though may tell half the story, especially since he took over at the tail end of 2015. The next Index is expected in January and could tell his true contribution.

But Magufuli’s economic policies are working well. He launched the Five Year development Plan meant to nurture an industrialisation programme, improve the national work ethic and sound management of public finance.

The country’s growing construction, financial services and communications sector have ensured its Growth Domestic Product remains at an average of 7 per cent, according to the World Bank. It is an improvement following a lull that had slowed it to 5.5 per cent.

LIVING BELOW POVERTY LINE

These figures may mean little for now, especially for a country that still has about 12 million of its 50 million population living below the poverty line.

But the Tanzanian leader said, his programmes will bear some fruit in future.

“I believe that if we go with this pace, we can reach at a level where we can say we are taking the country to a better place. We have a lot to learn from each other, between Kenya and Tanzania,” he said in Nairobi.

But Dr Magufuli’s other trait is a mastery of figures. On Monday, he said the country’s economy had grown by 7.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, which is correct according to the World Bank. Inflation had dropped from 7 per cent early in the year to 4.5 per cent.

The World Bank says it dropped from 6.5 per cent to 4.9 per cent, up to August this year.

In announcing all these though, President Magufuli insisted it was meant to prove the business environment for investors was improving.

“I welcome all Kenyans who want to invest in Tanzania, to come even today. Because we want to do business with Kenyans because they are our brothers.

“My visit here is to cement the good relations which has been existing between our two countries.”

There are 529 Kenyan companies in Tanzania today, employing 59200 Tanzanians, he said. They have a total investment input of Sh170 billion.

In fact, trade with Tanzania has risen from Tsh652 billion in 2010 to Tsh2.44 trillion in 2016.