Magufuli: A selfless, model leader

The late President John Pombe Magufuli at a past event in Dar es Salaam. [Pius Cheruiyot]

When the late President John Magufuli came to power in November 2015, he won the hearts of millions.

Magufuli was the purported Messiah; a practical servant leader with a deep and passionate commitment to public service whose transformational feat landed him nomination to the prestigious Forbes Africa Person of the Year Award in 2016.

His war on corruption remained a selling point. He publicly dressed-down corrupt officials and shamed contractors during his hands-on ‘Hapa Kazi Tuu’ tours of Dodoma, Morogoro, Moshi, Mbeya, Kigoma, Iringa, Bagamoyo, among other towns, where he would make roadside stops to address locals and emphasize service delivery.

During his first 100 days in office, Magufuli made attempts to cure runaway borrowing. He insisted that his country needed value for money and scrutinized every government contract while demanding for tailor-made loans to fit Tanzania’s bill. 

Austerity measures would follow.

Magufuli slashed international travel, saving Tanzania billions of shillings, and canceled costly events such as the country’s 2020 Independence Day celebrations where he led locals in cleaning the streets. Funds allocated to the December 9 celebrations were diverted to cater to expenses in public hospitals. 

Magufuli fought hard to restore public confidence in government institutions, a case in point being in November 2016 when he took his then-ailing wife, Janeth, to a public hospital in Dar es Salaam for treatment. Magufuli had a year earlier fired a senior official at the hospital after finding patients sleeping on the floor. Social media users lauded the move saying it was a great example to other African presidents.

He instilled discipline and accountability, especially in government offices, by making a series of surprise visits. The trips resulted in the expulsion of over 10,000 ‘ghost workers’, who were reportedly on the public sector payroll, saving his government over Tsh200 million in salaries every month.