How the Berlin Conference Clung on Africa: What Africa Must Do

How the Berlin Conference Clung on Africa: What Africa Must Do

Friday, 25 March 2022

A TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT MAGUFULI ON HIS FIRST DEATH ANNIVERSARY.

"Ndugu wananchi, kwa  masikitiko  makubwa  nawajulisha  kuwa, leo  tarehe  17 Machi  mwaka  huu  wa  2021, majira  ya  saa  12  jioni, tumempoteza  kiongozi wetu shupavu, Rais  wa  Jamhuri  ya  Muungano,  Mheshimiwa  Dkt. John  Pombe  Magululi;  ambaye  amefariki  kwa maradhi  ya  moyo  katika hospitali  ya  Mzena,  jijini  Da es Salaam,  alikokuwa  akipatiwa  matibabu”. That was the  terse,  short  statement, which  was  made  by  the  then  Vice  President  of  the  United  Republic, Samia  Suluhu Hassan;  when   she  formally  announced  to Tanzanians,  and  to  the   rest  of  the  world,  the  untimely  death  of  our  then President,  the late  John Pombe  Maguduli,  the  first  Tanzanian  President  to  die  in  office.             
         As  would  be  expected,  this  sudden   announcement  produced a great deal  of  shock  in  all  those  who  heard  it  live.Thus, last  week,  March  17th,  2022;  was  the  first  anniversary  of  President  John  Pombe  Magufuli’s  untimely  death,  which  occurred  hardly  three  months  into  what  would  have  been  his  second term in office.  And  this  day  was  aptly  observed  at  national level  through  a  prayer  congregation  attended  by all the  nation’s  top  leaders,  who  assembled  at  Chato  (the   home  village of  both the  birth and  burial,  of  the  late  President);  in commemoration  of  the  first  anniversary of  that   sorrowful event.                  
        The  famous  English  Playwright  and  dramatist,  William  Shakespeare, wrote  the  following  lines  in  his  work  titled  Julies  Caesar : “The  evil  that  men  do  lives after  them, but  the  good  is  often  interred  with  their bones”.  Tanzanians should  not,  nay,  must  not,  allow ‘the  good’ that  the  late  President Magufuli  did  for our nation, to “be interred  with  his  bones”.              
        And  that,  I humbly   submit,  should  be  the  main purpose, and principal objective, of all such  death   commemoration  events for all  our  departed   leaders. Consequently,  that  will  be  the  theme of  today’s  article,  which  attempts  to  present “the good” that  the late  President  Magufuli   did  for  our  country  and  nation,  “lest  we forget”.  
        Everyone  is, of course,  free  to make his own  assessment of the  late  President Magufuli’s  performance.  There  are  three specific areas  which  lend  themselves  to  leadership performance  assessment  and  evaluation. They are  (a)  the state  of  the economy,  and  the social  services; (b)  participation  in the  international relations  area;  and  (c)  the management of the political  landscape.  In  respect  of  the  late  President Magufuli,       
        I would  venture to say  that   the  vast   majority,  if  not  all,  of the people, would  easily   agree  that  his  performance in the area of strengthening the   country’s economy, and his delivery  in  the  social  services sector, were  admirably extraordinary.    There  is this  Kiswahili proverb, which  says  “Mwenye macho,  haambiwi  tazama”.  The  positive  results  of his  endeavours  in this  area were there  for  all  to see, and  witness for  themselves.        
        For example, in  the  face oh  high  risks  of  failure, he boldly undertook  to  implement  mega  infrastructure  projects ; particularly those   of  shifting  the  government  capital  to Dodoma,  and  the  construction of  the huge Stigler’s  Gorge  electricity  generating  plant;  both  of  which  had  been  conceived by the  late  President  Nyerere  in  the  early  formative  years  of the  country’s  independence;  but  had  been totally frustrated  by  factors  beyond  his  control.                                     
        Other  apparently risky  mega  investment  projects included  the reviving of  the seriously   ailing  national  Airline,  Air Tanzania Corporation;  by  purchasing  for  it  the most modern flying  aircraft the  Dreamliner,  among other latest   models;  and the construction  of the standard  Gauge  Railway line of more  than one  thousand  kilometers;  plus  the construction of new,  large,  passenger  and  cargo  ships  to  operate  on  Tanzanian  inland  Lakes;   and   all  of  these  mega  projects   being   carried  out  using  only  internally generated  funds ! 
         And  in  the  Social  service  area, the  late  President  Magufuli  quickly  introduced  and   implemented   the  policy of  “free  Primary and  junior secondary  education up to FORM IV level;  and  also  greatly increased  the  amount of  interest-free  loans  to higher (tertiary) education  students. Considering the fact that there are as  many as  fifty-two University institutions that, between them,  were  admitting a  total of  more than one hundred  students every  year; plus an even much larger  number of continuing students; granting loans to such large  numbers of   beneficiaries as a very heavy burden,  as  well  as  risky  business,  for  the  government  to undertake. But Magufuli’s  government had no  hesitation in accepting to carry  this  extra heavy  load,  obviously based  on  the  basic  principle  which  is  expressed  in the  dictum “elimu  ni  msingi  wa  maendeleo” .    
        On  the  other  hand, however,   his  rather  callous  disregard of  the  serious   dangers  posed  by  the  corona virus  pandemic,   relying  instead   on  urging  people to pray  and pray  again, asking for  God’s divine protection. But,   indeed, as  if the  almighty  God had  whispered to  him, our country  was  largely  saved from  the ravaging  effects  of  this  pandemic, which continued  to devastate  many  other countries  in the entire word; thus necessitating  the  imposition of some extremely severe  restrictions  on  peoples’ movements, such  as  lockdowns;  which  obviously created  new serious  problems by   disrupting  peoples’ normal  lives. 
         President  Magufuli luckily saved us  from  all  that, with people  continuing to live their normal,  ordinary  lives of  working  hard, in compliance  with his famous  slogan “Hapa  kazi  tu”. 
         Furthermore, opinions are also divided with  regard  to  the  international  relations  area. There  are those  who think  that   the  late  President  seems  to have largely distanced  himself from  personal  meetings  with his  peers,  both  in respect  of  attendance  at  international meetings like the  United  Nations General  Assembly;  and  in travelling to  other countries on official visits. For he rarely crossed Tanzania’s  borders for these  purposes. Although  they  are  also those who did not see this to  be  a  problem  at  all.          
        Similarly, in the area of managing the political  landscape; there is a substantial number of those  who feel that he was not giving equal opportunities to all  the  political  players, to exercise their  political  rights, particularly when he imposed a ban on  public  political meetings  during the times when  there  was  no  elections for which to conduct  the  necessary electoral campaigns meetings.   
        But  I  am  one  of  the  late   President  Magufuli’s many admirers, who also include his  Zimbabwe  enthusiasts, who coined the “Magufulification”  concept, to which I briefly referred  to in last  week’s  article.  Nevertheless, as shown above,  I readily  concede  that, being a human  being  like  the  rest  of  us,  he did commit  mistakes  in  some  areas  of  state  governance.  But  such  mistakes are  what, I submit,  should  have  been  “interred  with  his  bones”.   
        My  admiration  of the  late President  Magufuli’s  performance, is clearly  evidenced  in  the series  of articles, which were  regularly  published in this  column  in  respect of his  performance : (a)  after his first  hundred  days  in  office; and (b) at the  end of  each  of  his  years in  office, during  the  whole  of  his  first  term.           
         In  my  article  on President  Magufuli’s  first  hundred  days in office, I made  the  observation that “President Magufuli had  already  become  an  African  continental  icon, within  those  first  hundred days  in  office”; and  to confirm  this  assertion, I quoted  captions  from  some  of  the  leading newspapers  of  South  Africa,  Ghana,  Nigeria  and  Zimbabwe,  all  of  which  sang  praises  on  President  Magufuli’s  exemplary  performance.         
        In  the  same  captivating  enthusiasm,  I  also undertook,  in  2019,  jointly  with  my   friend  and  colleague  Nkwazi  Mhango;  to  co-author  a  book  titled  “Magufulification”:  A  new  concept  that  will  define  Africa’s  future”;   which  we   submitted  for  publication,  upon  formal  signed  Agreement,  to   GDY  Publications  Company  Limited  of  Da es Salaam.  But  it   is  unfortunately  still  awaiting  publication.
Inside our co-authored “Magufulification” tome.
Our own considered  appraisal of  President  Magufuli’s unique, extraordinary performance (which  is  implied  in  the “Mgufulification” concept),  is to  be  found  in the final Chapter 10 of that book; in  which we take  a close look at his  rapid implementation  of his  election promise “to bring  substantive change”. Therein we cite both the minor  and major changes, which he successfully  introduced, in  respect  of the government’s  management  of the country’s  affairs.               
            His  ‘minor’ changes  included   the  cancellation of  some of the grandiose national  celebrations that  involved huge  expenditures (such  as  the annual independence  celebrations), and  re-allocating  the money budgeted to other  development projects; while the ‘major’  changes  include  the enhancement of the collection of government revenues, from the  former  billions  to  the  current trillions of shillings;  particularly  his  effective  elimination  of  the  exploitation that was being  carried  out by some  of the foreign  mining   companies when he introduced new,  revolutionary,  pieces  of  legislation;  specifically: the “Natural  Wealth  and  Resources  Contracts (Review   and  Renegotiation of  Unconscionable  Terms)  Act”  of  2017;  and  “the “Natural Wealth and  Resources (Permanent  Sovereignty) Act”, also of 2017.         
        The  first mentioned Act granted  new  powers  to  the National Assembly to review any  mining  contract, or Agreement, “which appeared  to  jeopardize, or was  likely to jeopardize,  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the United  Republic”. The  second  Act  made provision for  the  recognition of the  country’s permanent sovereignty over its  natural  wealth  and  resources, by  declaring  that  “the ownership  of,  and control  over,  the  country’s  natural  wealth  and  resources  shall  be  exercised  by,  or  through,  the  Government,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  United  Republic”;  and  further  provides  as  follows:- “it  shall  be  wrongful  and  unlawful  to make  any  arrangement  or  Agreement for the  extraction,  exploration,  or  acquisition  and  use of  the  country’s  natural  resources, except  where  the  interests  of  the  people  are  fully  secured,  and  is  approved  by  the  National  Assembly”.  
            These revolutionary laws  include a number  of  other provisions, which have brought immense  benefits to the  people of Tanzania in a variety of  other  ways, by  effectively controlling the mining  sector;   which has  resulted in very significant  increases  in government  revenues  accruing  from  that  sector,  thus  greatly reducing the excessive  dependence on foreign donors; and creating genuine hope  in  the possible success of  achieving the  ‘magic’  of  “self-reliance”, that  was  envisaged in the   ruling  party’s Arusha  Declaration of  1967.
        We  also  drew  attention to the late President  Magufuli’s  commendable  fight  against  the  evil  of corruption,  and  the  strides  he  had  made  in  that  difficult endeavour;  as  evidenced  by  a  variety  of  positive  comments  made  by  from  different  independent   sources.  A  forum   meeting  of  the  Human  Rights  NGOs   held  in  Banjul  on  the  occasion  of  the  2018  “African  Human  Rights  Day”;  where  18  Tanzanian  Human  Rights  Civil  Organizations  were  represented,  issued  the  following  statement at  the    close  of  their  meeting:- “This  forum “calls  on  other  African  Heads  of  State  to  take a leaf  from  President  Magufui’s  fight  against  corruption”.  A  manifest  proof  of  the international  recognition  accorded  to President  Magufuli’s achievements in that  area.   
        “Ethics is the  heart of leadership”, so the  books  of  authority on this  subject tell  us. The   late  President Magufuli will  also be  remembered  for  his  firm stand in  defense of the constitution. In  2017,  some CCM  cadres  had  initiated a private campaign, seeking  to have the constitution  amended  in  order  to  allow him  to serve for more  than  two  terms. “I  am  not interested in  staying  on  after  my  two  terms”;   was  President  Magufli’s  ethical  response.  He  continued  thus: “I vowed  solemnly,   when  I  took  the  oath  of  office, to  abide  by  the  Constitution.  There  is  no  way  I can  stay  beyond  the  stipulated  two   terms”.
piomsekwa@gmai.com /0754767576.
Source: Daily News and Cde Msekwa.

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