{"id":1483,"date":"2021-03-18T08:09:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T08:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/?p=1483"},"modified":"2022-01-03T08:34:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T08:34:34","slug":"john-pombe-joseph-magufuli-1959-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/1483\/john-pombe-joseph-magufuli-1959-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (1959 – 2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Aikande Clement Kwayu<\/a>*<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Joseph Pombe Magufuli was a man who deftly played the long political game. He was nevertheless a puzzle both to Tanzanians and the world.<\/p>\n

When he first entered the presidency in 2015, he gained worldwide acclaim for his no-nonsense approach to fighting corruption and\u00a0imprudent government spending<\/a>. But as he settled into office, his\u00a0true political colours<\/a>\u00a0– the authoritarian and \u201cthe bulldozer\u201d of human rights – showed up.<\/p>\n

He was born in 1959 in Tanzania\u2019s Chato district in the Lake Victoria zone, and was only 2 years old when Tanzania\u00a0got independence<\/a>\u00a0in 1961.<\/p>\n

After attaining his basic education he trained as a teacher at Mkwawa College of Education, Iringa in central Tanzania, and became a secondary school science teacher. Magufuli then obtained a degree in education science from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in 1988.<\/p>\n

The following year he was employed as an industrial chemist at Nyaza Cooperative remaining there until 1995. He then ran for the Chato parliamentary seat and won.<\/p>\n

In 1995 President\u00a0Benjamin Mkapa<\/a>, who passed away in 2020, appointed him deputy minister for works, transport and communication. Magufuli drove an ambitious road building project, earning himself the nickname, \u2018the bulldozer<\/a>\u2019. He served in Cabinet in different portfolios until 2015 when he ran for presidency.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The bulldozer moniker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout his 20 years as a cabinet minister he was known to be a hard worker. He also kept a corruption-free record, a rare feat given the portfolios he was responsible for. As minister for works between 2010 and 2015, he built a road network connecting many parts of the country and a new rapid bus system in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania\u2019s commercial capital.<\/p>\n

During these two decades he wasn\u2019t associated with any major corruption. This is despite the fact that\u00a0infrastructure projects<\/a>, which often require huge investments spread over time, are generally associated with corruption. Also, Tanzania was plagued by\u00a0major corruption scandals<\/a>\u00a0between 2005 and 2015.<\/p>\n

Magufuli\u2019s clean record, and his reputation for getting things done, became useful during the 2015 general election campaign. He promised to\u00a0fight corruption<\/a>, discipline the civil service, and create employment for the youth.<\/p>\n

But the ‘bulldozer\u2019 moniker went on to haunt him as he increasingly began to be seen as the man who\u00a0bulldozed human rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Magufuli\u2019s rise to power<\/strong><\/p>\n

In June 2015, four months before election day, Magufuli was not seen as the Chama cha Mapinduzi party\u2019s\u00a0strongest candidate<\/a>. The front runner had been Edward Lowassa, who had served as prime minister for three years under Mkapa\u2019s successor, Jakaya Kikwete. Lowassa was forced to resign after being caught in\u00a0a corruption scandal<\/a>. Magufuli eventually won the nomination, which came as a\u00a0surprise<\/a>\u00a0to some within his party.<\/p>\n

Mkapa quietly pushed the party to\u00a0nominate Magufuli<\/a>.\u00a0The former president and other party elders<\/a>\u00a0were for the first time advising the ruling party\u2019s central committee on the nomination of the presidential candidate. The \u201cbulldozer\u201d went on to become Tanzania\u2019s fifth president.<\/p>\n

And two years into Magufuli\u2019s first term, Mkapa\u00a0publicly gave his performance a thumbs up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two factors appear to have been critical to Magufuli\u2019s nomination by the Chama cha Mapinduzi and his rise to the presidency.<\/p>\n

One, that prior to his candidacy, he had\u00a0not been implicated in any corruption scandal<\/a>\u00a0while Lowassa was\u00a0directly associated with a corruption deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two, he was\u00a0not affiliated<\/a>\u00a0within any factions within the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi. After Lowassa was forced to resign as prime minister in 2008 after a fraud case,\u00a0sharp divisions emerged<\/a>\u00a0between Chama cha Mapinduzi members who supported him and those who supported then president Jakaya Kikwete. Magufuli\u00a0remained neutral<\/a>\u00a0and that worked in his favour.<\/p>\n

Throughout his political career before the presidency, Magufuli appeared to eschew party politics. As a minster under Mkapa\u2019s and Kikwete\u2019s administrations, he focused on work, not party politics. This – plus his clean governance record –\u00a0made him the go-to-guy<\/a>\u00a0when his party needed a presidential candidate with a clean record and who was not aligned with any party faction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The authoritarian<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in 2015, when he was first elected president, Magufuli earned praise nationally and internationally.\u00a0\u201cWhat would Magufuli do\u201d<\/a>\u00a0became a catch phrase to compare him with underperforming leaders in the region. However, after less than a year in office\u00a0his authoritarianism side began to show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He spent most of his first term\u00a0cracking down on the opposition<\/a>\u00a0and cementing the ruling party\u2019s power position. Over the years he has\u00a0turned into a full-blown populist<\/a>, claiming that he has the people\u2019s interests at heart. But his subsequent actions have called these claims into question. This included tightening the\u00a0noose on the media<\/a>,\u00a0as well as<\/a>\u00a0aggressive action against opposition figures, a rise in arbitrary arrests and\u00a0crackdown on civil society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More recently, his\u00a0COVID denialism<\/a>\u00a0has been well documented.<\/p>\n

He became more focused on cementing his power and less concerned with his election promises. By the end of his first term in 2020, there was still\u00a0much left to be done<\/a>, including completing construction on a speed railway and hydroelectric dam.<\/p>\n

Regardless, and despite a\u00a0flawed election<\/a>, he was re-elected in October 2020. The election was marked with\u00a0violence and a systematic crackdown<\/a>\u00a0on the opposition. As he began his second term, there were questions about what kind of legacy he would leave.<\/p>\n

When speaking of his legacy, one must start with the Magufuli\u2019s effect on Tanzania\u2019s economy. There are mixed feelings about his economic performance. While some\u00a0assessed him positively<\/a>\u00a0others underscored the\u00a0negative impact of his administrative style<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Magufuli\u2019s\u00a0nationalistic rhetoric scared off investors<\/a>, despite his administration\u2019s attempt to convince the world that Tanzania was a\u00a0good business environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More recently, his\u00a0denial of the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>\u00a0as straight out of his nationalistic and populist playbook. And the state violence that surrounded 2020\u2019s general election will forever be a\u00a0stain on his legacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Looking back<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tanzania is as polarised<\/a>\u00a0as ever. The 2020 election\u00a0entrenched the ruling party\u2019s dominance<\/a>\u00a0and set a bad precedence for the suppression of dissenting voices.<\/p>\n

A country that\u00a0was once lauded for its progress in democracy<\/a>\u00a0has rapidly regressed to\u00a0authoritarian rule<\/a>\u00a0under Magufuli\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n

Most recently, his administration\u00a0denied the existence of COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0while its people and many others across the world died. In Tanzania today,\u00a0speaking truth to power is a crime<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result Magufuli will be remembered for rolling back Tanzania\u2019s democratic gains, making the country an unwelcome investment destination and denying the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640\u0640<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Independent researcher & Honorary Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Aikande Clement Kwayu*   John Joseph Pombe Magufuli was a man who deftly played the long political game. He was nevertheless a puzzle both to Tanzanians and the world. When he first entered the presidency in 2015, he gained worldwide acclaim for his no-nonsense approach to fighting corruption and\u00a0imprudent government spending. But as he settled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":13,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"The Conversation","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,9],"tags":[149],"class_list":["post-1483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-figures","tag-benjamin-mkapa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}