On leadership, we can’t help but envy Tanzania

Since coming to power in October, Tanzanian President John Magufuli has been nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for his no-nonsense leadership style.

Within three weeks of taking office, Dr Magufuli’s work has captured the world’s imagination, making headlines in major newspapers from East Africa to as far as Australia. This is in addition to the hilarious Twitter hash tag #WhatWouldMagufuliDo that has taken social media by storm.

A new verb has been coined too, “magufulify”, meaning “to make something faster and cheaper” and “to deprive public officials of their capacity to enjoy life on taxpayer’s expense”

So what is it that makes John Magufuli so great? Well, unlike so many of his counterparts, he is relentless in his assault on corruption, laziness, and overspending; something that no doubt has already made him very unpopular among his own political comrades. Where others have chosen the path of hokum, Dr Magufuli does not simply give the fire and brimstone homily, he puts it into practice. In his third day in office Dr Magufuli banned all but essential foreign travel by public servants; calling on high commissioners and ambassadors abroad to take over. So much so, the first class and business class tickets have been restricted to the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister only.

He went on to cut down Parliament’s inaugural cocktail party budget from $100,000 to $7,000. The rest of the money was directed to Muhimbili National Hospital to buy beds. He ordered the cancellation of meetings and conferences in hotels for public servants, saying the government would no longer foot the bills for such in posh hotels. Instead, he directed that ministerial boardrooms be used and telecommunications technologies be deployed to allow for two-way video and audio conferencing.

Most unexpectedly, last month, Dr Magufuli cancelled traditional Independence Day celebrations, which usually include a military parade and concert. “It is so shameful that we are spending huge amounts of money to celebrate 54 years of independence when our people are dying of cholera,” the President remarked.

Magufuli is not loved by all, he indeed has offended many but not in the sense that other leaders have: he has made lazy and corrupt people’s lives difficult. Unlike his fellow African leaders, Magufuli hasn’t attacked western imperialism nor conjured up imaginary ghosts of neo colonialism. He, instead, is targeting African laziness and corruption. One thing is for sure, he is not a shoo in for AU President given his very “un-African” approach to running government. The fact that Magufuli is a man with a vision will cause great consternation among most of his fellow ‘leaders’. Little wonder that congratulatory messages had to be literally pried out of some, following his electoral win.

And it is not only Africans falling in love with Magufuli’s work. Although it is exceedingly rare for developed world citizens to pick an African leader as a mirror of efficiency, in an opinion piece in the Courier Mail Newspaper, Australian editor Rowan Dean took a swipe on his country’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who has been in office 12 weeks for ‘underperforming’ and in contrast hailing Magufuli for ‘impressive’ work in three weeks.

There is suddenly the crispy air of a shining sun after a storm, a sense that Tanzania is heading in the right direction fast. Kenyans are not strangers to that feeling. That heady sense of progress at last that engulfed the nation back in 2002 when everything seemed within reach. Sadly for us “yote yawezekana” died aborning. Many of us are now in grave breach of the commandment that makes it illicit to covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. We are green with envy for our brothers in Tanzania. As we celebrate Jamuhuri Day with pomp and dance, we dream of the possibilities that could be achieved if, for only one month, Magufuli was our President.