Dr John Pombe Magufuli’s re-jigged anti-corruption machinery began this week with extra hydraulic turbo, a new blade and ripper, writes Victor Kgomoeswana.
Tanzania was in the clutches of German-British colonial dealings when the first bulldozer was invented by James Porteous in 1884. Equipped with a blade in front - to push objects, rubble and soil, with a ripper in the back to loosen hard surfaces - this invention was first used in agriculture and road construction.
However, it soon was kitted to deliver major projects like the Panama Canal's construction, and in World War I.
Seventy-six years later, Tanzania's fifth president, Dr John Pombe Magufuli, was born - the country's brand of bulldozer. Nicknamed The Bulldozer’ for his disdain of sloppiness and in-exertion, he's gathering momentum in his crusade to lift Tanzania from its 117th position on the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, among its other dubious honours.
Since succeeding Jakaya Kikwete exactly a year ago, Magufuli’s re-jigged anti-corruption machinery began this week with extra hydraulic turbo, a new blade and ripper. The Economic, Corruption and Organised Crime Court held its maiden bail hearing in Dar es Salaam on Thursday.
The accused in this economic sabotage case were a Chinese woman Fu Chang Feng, an Indian named Ally Raza and Jeremiah Kerenge, a local. They stand accused of importing banned mono-filament nets used for fishing.
It's common knowledge that overfishing or illegal fishing ignited piracy in Somali waters, near Tanzania. Lake Victoria also recently took a knock as a fishing economy for Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda due to overfishing and plummeting water levels.
To compound matters, Tanzania for a while has been accused by its fellow member states in the region of laxity in combating illegal Chinese imports. This obviously weakens one of Africa’s most promising regional economic blocs.
In just over a month in office, apart from slashing extravagant independence celebrations, Magufuli sacked Edward Hoseah, the long-serving director-general of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB).
Having been in the position for nine years and the bureau for 19, Hoseah’s leadership was considered ineffectual.
In no time, some elite Tanzanians who were accustomed to a life of graft began accusing Magufuli of Rwanda-nising’ the country. He is close to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose country's Corruption Perception Index ranking is 44, the best in East Africa.
Tanzania should be the economic powerhouse of East Africa. It has an abundance of natural gas, oil, gold, biodiversity, tanzanite and other minerals. It is a stable democracy and has a strong sense of national identity. It is favourably located in the Africa-Asia trade route and the East African zone of economies that include fast-growing Mozambique and dynamic Kenya.
It needed a more decisive captain. Like a bulldozer, Magufuli is scrumming consistently against wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Over the inaugural 12 months in office he has firmly felled and stared down any official considered to be slow, incompetent or corrupt.
The US government had applied its own pressure before Magufuli took over, tying the release of $427 million (R5.8 billion) in aid to concrete progress against corruption.
In September 2015, Mark Childress - US Ambassador to Tanzania - stated that: “Despite some efforts to address corruption, it remains a serious concern affecting all aspects of development and government effectiveness”.Who needs aid? Which African country, let alone mineral-rich and politically stable Tanzania, needs to depend on any form of aid from the US or anyone? The one with poor leadership and weak institutions.
Kikwete was not a weak leader but, compared to Magufuli, he was tinkering with the problems at the heart of Tanzania's underdevelopment. Upon realising that its support base was waning, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) - the ruling party of Tanzania - needed a saviour. The party won 82.28 percent in 2005, 62.8 percent in 2010 and 54.46 percent in 2015. It might have been political expediency that made the CCM deploy its 21st century human bulldozer as president, but the countrywill be the bigger winner.
* Kgomoeswana is author of Africa is Open for Business. He also hosts Power Hour from Monday to Thursday on Power FM. He also writes a weekly column for African Independent. Twitter Handle: @VictorAfrica
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
The Sunday Independent