President Magufuli fast losing the shine that endeared him to many

Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli, PHOTO:COURTESY

“What-would-Magufuli-do?” trended on Twitter for so long. Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli, elected in 2015, was a fresh breath of air in a region used to a lethargic, unresponsive and wasteful government.

With his new style of running government, Mr Magufuli was living up to the moniker ‘Bulldozer’ that he earned while serving as minister for Roads in former President Jakaya Kikwete’s government.
 

Resentment and cynicism about government bureaucracy and wastage was giving way to hope. Those who crossed Magufuli’s path had it rough. Single-handedly, Mr Magufuli was destroying an anachronistic institution. And the crowds were cheering him on.
 

But alas, news coming out of our neighbour to the South East paints a gloomy picture now. The hope and the great expectation is giving way to the usual cynicism with elected leaders.
Mr Magufuli has now morphed into an intolerant, overbearing leader with strong-arm tactics.
And here is why.

In January last year, Mawio, a weekly newspaper, was banned for publishing what Nape Nnauye; the Information minister termed “the newspaper’s continuous writing and publication of content that is inciteful and threatening to the peace, stability and security of our country.”
 

Simon Mkina, the Editor of Mawio said his paper was targeted for being critical of Government... “Our Government doesn’t want to be criticised, they only want a yes, yes media.”
 

In January, Mr Magufuli warned that the days of two news outlets were numbered “for making Tanzania a dump site of seditious news.”
 

Perhaps because of the excitement, there was little uproar about these incidents. Slowly, but surely, a promising story was unravelling. For threatening the Press for doing its job, a leader does a great disservice to their country.

 Research shows that societies where Press freedom is guaranteed are generally stable, progressive and Tanzania is seemingly the worse off for it. And East Africans should be worried. 

Good governance

For many, the prospect of good governance, honest politics and accountable leadership that Mr Magufuli represented was alluring. Sadly, that is slipping away.

Never had the prospect of dealing with deep-rooted impunity and political chicanery in Tanzania been so real. What-would-Magufuli-do? Became the rallying call for those tired with inefficiency and paralysis in public office.

It was a rebuttal of the long-held view that despite regular elections, wretched injustices are routinely perpetuated by a corrupt and cruel elite that has constantly obstructed that elusive new beginning we yearn for.
The public looks up to their leaders to rescue them from the anarchy and the rottenness of its society. But most of the messiahs have ended up delivering hell. Some of the so-called messiahs have even bottled out of the reform process after boarding the gravy train.
 

All they do is engage in schemes to self-perpetuate and self-preserve and let bad governance, ineptitude and the canker of corruption to fester.
At each electoral cycle, the people hope for a chance to get out of the horrific cycle of poverty, deceit and government paralysis.

And as has become routine, they get disappointed. The Rainbow Coalition started on a very promising note. Recall the ‘we-were-elected-on-anti-corruption-platform’ mantra?

Like others before, it went back on its promises of good governance and less talk and more work. The June 2006 raid on The Standard left no doubt about what Narc really stood for. Like Magufuli, Narc had everything going for it.
Narc gave hope to millions of Kenyans who felt that the rungs had been removed from the ladder of opportunity.

It gave the country a chance to do away with searing inequalities that disfigure Kenya. It is disappointing how the story turned out.
And as Magufuli goes about spending the goodwill he had, many will feel that it was all wishful thinking to imagine that the new broom was the panacea for all the troubles of Tanzanians.

Mr Guleid is the Deputy Governor, Isiolo County [email protected]