Bravo President Magufuli

The Tanzanian president has become a household name in East Africa. I imagine in most parts of Africa. His Excellency President John Magufuli is a darling of the poor is a darling of the poor who think that the Government system is rotten and exploitative and is loathed by the civil servants and I imagine his fellow politicians who are beneficiaries of the civil service system that operates in most of Africa. In some parts of Uganda, the name is famous for other things.

When he took office, the Tanzanian president is reported to have initiated several apparently austerity measures intended to save money and improve performance in the Tanzanian economy. Among the things he did included banning the Tanzanian Independence Day celebrations. He is reported to have ordered the diversion of money intended for the celebrations to buy hospital beds. He reduced the budget for his own inauguration from 100,000 dollars to 70,000 dollars. He suspended Commissioner General of the Tanzanian Revenue Authority over loss of money. He abolished first class travel for government officials. He forbid printing of Christmas cards at government cost. He sacked the head of the main hospital when he found patients sleeping on the floor. He also directed various public institutions offered at meetings. For the University of Dares Salaam, the guidelines are circulating around on social media. These include: Removing heavy refreshments and leaving items like pea nuts. In fact if you want to serve any refreshment in the University of Dares Salam besides water and tea, you have to seek the authority of the Deputy Vice Chancellor. These are heroic acts and very appealing especially to those who are not familiar with how government works. On Independence Day, he rode a bike to go and clean town.

President Magufuli is sending very good signals, he is suggesting that we can use our resources in a much better manner. He is calling for frugality and value for money. He is seeking an improvement in government service delivery. Indeed he qualifies for a servant leader.  It is just that as Head of State, he has used a wrong method for a very good objective. Possibly there are worse things happening which are not visible and which he may never know. For instance, how much revenue does Tanzania get out of its minerals and who benefits from these minerals?

President Magufuli should go at a policy level rather than the token actions which he cannot sustain. Heads of State are the fountain of honour in a nation and there are some things they should not get involved in. It is in order to show the way but be careful because there are some things that cannot be sustained. While a Head of State can participate in a cleaning exercise, he should not make it his business to do so. These noble goals need a more permanent solution because the measures he is using, he will quickly be defeated by the system and are not sustainable.

President Magufuli should look at the development goals of Tanzania and evolve policies and strategies to achieve these goals. For instance some time back, African governments got rid of the policies of providing housing and motor vehicles for civil servants. Was this a correct policy? What objective did it achieve? In the United Kingdom, the Labour party governments built what is famously known as Council Houses which Margaret Thatcher sold. What were the lessons? Are the ordinary British people better off now than when they had access to government owned houses? It is policy that will get rid of remuneration packages for civil servants not executive decisions. Executive decisions tend to result into abuse because they favour only a few people. Tanzania and indeed literally all African countries need to change their policies if they are to get rid of poverty. Being frugal with the wrong policies will benefit wrong people. We need to review our investment policies, trade policies, foreign policies among others, we also need to evolve strategies that will ensure that we are able to achieve these policies. What are the policies that Rwanda has evolved that have made it what it is today. Who is benefiting from Rwanda’s economic success. If it is still MTN shareholders, then the policies may not be right. Bravo President Magufuli but the journey has just started