Magufuli's leadership was not bad after all

Last salute during requiem mass for the late John Pombe Magufuli in Chato. [Courtesy]

I was definitely wrong about Magufuli. As I watched the genuine outpouring of grief across Tanzania, I wondered if we would witness similar grief if our leaders departed prematurely. It made me rethink my earlier assessment of Magufuli.

Shakespeare’s most famous eulogy comes to mind and I recall Mark Antony’s speech at Julius Caesar’s funeral: "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them. The good is often interred with their bones. So, let it be with Caesar."

It is time to reflect more on the good and less on the bad of Magufuli who came to power like the storm, shooting from the hip with roadside announcements and onsite firing of underperforming staff.

The first time I saw him tell off cowering hospital staff put me off completely. All I saw was a repetition of our darkest times being repeated across the border. I felt like shouting that we’ve been there, and it doesn’t end well. Populist politics always sells.

Then came attacks on his business community, calling them thieves and tax evaders. Tanzanians cheered him on. However, I knew business confidence would collapse soon and that that’s when jobs would start to disappear.

Very soon I heard of key businessmen who moved their businesses to South Africa and Dubai. This would not end well. He curbed corruption and tax evasion, but goods are still cheaper there than in Kenya. Where are we going wrong?

The worst of his faults was the open political repression and intolerance to opponents. I worried that this was a cancer that could infect us if we were not careful. Tanzanians did not seem to care and voted him in again with a massive majority.

Yet it is his denial of Corona that is memorable. When the whole world was in a state of panic, he made Tanzanians indifferent to the pandemic. This reminded me of former President Thabo Mbeki’s denial of HIV in South Africa until hundreds of thousands started to die of Aids. 

Then we started to see the positives. The civil service which previously thrived on corruption and inefficiency suddenly started to work. Government wastage was reduced, and corruption was suddenly curbed. This is like funding a cure for the cancer that is slowly killing us here in Kenya.

We started to take note. Perhaps our leaders needed to take careful note and that there was some substance behind the style. We are too obsessed with the courts and government is shy to fire people who should have long gone by now for fear of the courts. Fire them (Magufuli-style) and let them go to court.

We started to see the logic of dealing decisively with foreign companies that won unfair concessions by bribing government officials or exploiting ignorance. Mining companies that were taking advantage of lax regulations and leaving nothing behind were forced to renegotiate. I didn’t see any gold mining company packing and leaving. Perhaps there is a lesson for us as well here.

We watched with amazement as their infrastructure projects took off. Bridges, roads, water supplies, airports and even the revival of Air Tanzania suddenly took place all over the country.

There was amazing growth, cost efficiency and quality work. We wish we could do that in Kenya instead of the often shoddy work we see here. At one time,  Dar es Salaam looked like a poor cousin of Mombasa, now there is no comparison; Dar es Salaam is a clean and growing city.

Poor condition

Despite his political intolerance, Magufuli showed an amazing capacity for religious tolerance. He is the first man I have seen convince church goers to raise money for a nearby mosque. He urged Christians that it was unchristian to have such a grand church while the nearby mosque was in such poor condition.

He graced Islamic religious meetings with such patience and once stayed the whole day listening to recitations of the Quran – in a language he obviously did not understand. Finally, he even asked the visiting King of Morocco to build a grand mosque – much to the amazement of the king.

Magufuli touched the hearts of ordinary citizens. Their love for him was evident across the country and their outpouring of grief made us all rethink his role and what he stood for.

In the balance sheet of life, he had more credits than shortfalls. History will judge him well. In case you are reading this article up there, Mr Magufuli, please forgive me for misjudging you.

Mr Shahbal is chairman of Gulf Group of [email protected]