Kikwete, what a visionary leader

I love and respect President Jakaya Kikwete beyond imagination. I am not a cohort or majordomo who loves him so that he can offer them some high positions which mean lucrative biz. I have my sound and convincing reasons:

First of all, he proved to be a visionary when he maintained the status of being a Young Turk who has grandchildren.

He likes education that's why whenever he is awarded a PhD, he makes sure that he uses it by being referred to as Dr. Kikwete even though he did not toil in the class for it.

Secondly, after finding that many quacks and sharks are joining his party in order to take over from him, he instructed many members of his family to vie for high positions. Kikwete loves self-reliance. Guess what? He allowed his wife, the first lady, to run for party elective position in her home region of Lindi to show how independent the first lady is. Kikwete did not want to see his wife clinging onto his back to get to the goodies. This applied also to his sons Ridhiwan and Khalfan and his brothers and other relations. To see to it that his wife is not becoming a tick on his back, he allowed her to create her own establishment known as Wanawake na Maendeleo (WAMA). This proves his wisdom. For, in order to make her own money and biz so that after retiring they could buy mansions and parcels of land just like his predecessor whose wife used EOTFL.  

Thirdly, he is predictable. You don’t need to be an astrologer or a seer to know what he'ill do next. Refer to how Yusuf Makamba predicted that his son January would be appointed a minister. It did happen before long.  More on predictability, remember? When doctors and teachers went on strike little bird said that Kikwete would not bother with them. Instead, little bird said, he'd leave for abroad to let doctors’ and teachers’ pent-up anger to dissipate; and verily, it just happened exactly as little bird said. For, he left for Brazil and later doctors and teachers ended up abandoning their strikes. To prove beyond doubt that the guy is a seer even intern doctors apologized to him for not respecting his government. Do you remember what happened when his former chief secretary, Philemon Luhanjo was implicated in David Jairo’s corruption saga?  Little bird confided that he'd not been touched by any law thanks to be appreciated by Kikwete. And truly, it happened exactly as the little bird said.

Fourthly, Kikwete is hard worker who does not care about his health. Do you remember how he fell down two times during his 2005 presidential campaigns in Kirumba and Jangwani after ignoring the reality about his health and his doctor’s advice?

Fifth, I love and adore Kikwete due to his tendency of liking travelling abroad quite often. There is a Swahili saying that travelling is learning. I like Kikwete who travels abroad to learn various things such as how to develop sports and bring some big teams such as Manchester.

Another reason that makes me love Kikwete is the fact that he is an economist per se. Do you remember his thesis? He just expounded that whenever you see traffic jams in the city, mind you, the economy is booming. According to him, this means that all Tanzanians are enjoying better life for all—everybody has a car.

So too, Kikwete is a seer. When Mwalimu Nyerere refused to approve him after sensing that he and his friend Edward Lowassa could not explain how they got their wealth, he went ahead circumnavigating and clinching the presidency.

If anything, Kikwete's style of leadership-from behind- kills me. You can’t see him in office or in the country. You can’t hear him commenting on many striking issues. He leads like a captain of a ship-from behind and sometimes from underground.

Another thing that makes me love Kikwete is nothing but his self-confidence. Who's forgotten how he ignored all people who were hollering during doctors’ strike. Instead of meeting them, he confidently went to bury Kanumba. This, if anything, needs the courage of the mad. So too, when allegations surfaced that he came to power by means of EPA money, he didn't bother to defend himself or offer any explanations or sack all those who were alleged to have been involved in the scam. Additionally, even when his Premier-cum-friend,Edward Lowassa was openly implicated in Richmond scam, he went on paying him retirement perks as if he did. To prove how tough Kikwete is, he went on allowing Richmond to miraculously mold itself into Dowans that ended up doing the same biz!

Last but not least, Kikwete has proved to be a talented leader. He is second to none when it comes to simplifying such complicated things. Remember? He is the one who shamelessly told Tanzanians that when he promised them better life for all he did not mean all but some of all not all of them. And true, some of Tanzanians, especially, those crisscrossing the corridors of the upper echelons of power are enjoying better life for all. Finally, he promised that he'd revisit investment contracts in order to remove all anomalies. Guess what? He did so by just doing the just the same. When it comes to Kikwete’s talent, one can write the whole Bible and can’t exhaust them.

Source: ThisDay Oct., 15, 2012.