As a bachelor's, masters and doctrate degree holder, JPM started off as a high school teacher and then an industrial chemist who would later become a member of parliament, an assistant minister and then a minister in different government dockets and eventually get elected on October 2015 to become the 5th president of the republic of Tanzania.
Without any doubt whatsoever, JPM was a visionary and servant leader who slowly but surely climbed the ladder of leadership with total leadership acumen leaving a great legacy in every step of his way, his presidency notwithstanding.
Tha fact that he was a locally sourced leader with both integrity and intelligence and never left Africa to any western country for further studies is something we Africans should learn from. The lesson is; Africa has the potential of producing highly educated people and nurturing great morals and ethics if we liberate ourselves from mediocrity and mental slavery that makes us think that nothing good can come out of Africa. JPM was a living proof of my claim since he was a visionary and a servant leader who earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees locally in the university of Dares Salaam plus an honorary doctorate from the university of Dodoma for appreciably improving the economy of Tanzania. In myriad cases, most people who leave mother Africa to study aboard develop a certain kind of laxity and a negative perception that hinder them from going back home to apply the acquired knowledge towards improving mother Africa. My fellow Africans in the diaspora, mother Africa is calling.
JPM was a president who saw no need of holding public holidays which would cost taxpayers an arm and a leg. His idea saw the cancellation of independence day celebrations where he declared it a national clean-up day and requested Tanzanians to spend the day cleaning up their cities and towns. The photo taken while he was collecting trash within the vicinity of the state house went viral, trending with a hashtag #whatwouldMagufulido. By canceling foreign trips for government officials and declaring that government meetings should be held in state buildings in place of expensive hotels, he was able to save 429 million dollars annually. And for those who might have missed his big three agenda memo, the man was out to intensively fight corruption, laziness and excessive bureaucracy without fear or favour. Making incognito raids in government offices was habitual. His raids saw myriad civil servants fired for absenteeism, laxity, dishonesty and unprofessionalism. It didn't matter whether you were a sacrosanct government official or not. If he deemed you to be a dereliction, your goose was cooked. Any nonperformer government official who had mysteriously escaped what was dubbed as 'operation squeeze the boil,' (not the Samidoh version ) during JPM's surprise office raids, there wasn't a safe haven for you. Sooner or later, you had to brace multitude shame of being fired in public. Unlike my former late president of 24 years who had the audacity to hire and fire government officials of different ranks on the roadside for his own political interests, JPM did so out of visionary and servant-hood leadership and for a progressive welfare and the best interest of his fellow Tanzanians.
From corrupt civil servants to ghost workers who were costing the government of Tanzania a sum of 2 million dollars per month, not a single one of them was wise enough to escape JPM's scythe.
His leadership was neither rhetorical nor theoretical, it was a practical, visionary and servant-hood leadership that brought a total transformation in the lives of Tanzanians. From free primary and high school education to free healthcare for the elderly, relentless fight against drug trafficking, construction of roads, bridges, railways and port, tax collection reform among others, his government had zero tolerance in laziness, corruption and inefficiency and ineffective service delivery to the citizens. In his fullness of power, he never believed that he was a politician. He perceived himself as a servant of the people who cared less about honorable titles. His persona portrayed humility at its best.
Nonetheless, it goes without saying that; no matter how great you are, you cannot please everyone. To put it in a biblical context; 'He came to his own and his own rejected him.' John 1:11.
Unfortunately, just like Jesus, JPM wasn't an exception to this scriptures. He had a legion of critics. While his supporters believed that the country had been in shambles for the longest and that he was a God sent leader to transform their lives and livelihood together with the lives of future generations, his critics perceived him as a dictator.
From my school of conscious thoughts, I can understand the critics argument. Most of them were beneficiaries of corruption from the previous governments who were robbed the luxury of self-enrichment through embezzlement of taxpayer's money which was a total unethical act that had for years impoverished Tanzanians.
If remaining adamant on the issues of fighting the decades old unethical dragon namely corruption is dictatorship, I am hesitant to accord his critics their biased dues but hasty to let them know that; democracy isn't a matter of one size fits all.
Unfortunately, just like Jesus, JPM wasn't an exception to this scriptures. He had a legion of critics. While his supporters believed that the country had been in shambles for the longest and that he was a God sent leader to transform their lives and livelihood together with the lives of future generations, his critics perceived him as a dictator.
From my school of conscious thoughts, I can understand the critics argument. Most of them were beneficiaries of corruption from the previous governments who were robbed the luxury of self-enrichment through embezzlement of taxpayer's money which was a total unethical act that had for years impoverished Tanzanians.
If remaining adamant on the issues of fighting the decades old unethical dragon namely corruption is dictatorship, I am hesitant to accord his critics their biased dues but hasty to let them know that; democracy isn't a matter of one size fits all.
As the world mourns JPM, the people of the republic of Tanzania and the rest of the 54 African States are also mourning the loss of a true PanAfrican leader who served as the chairman of Southern African Development Community. We however mourn him with mixed thoughts of heartfelt gratitude for a life well lived and on the other hand, we have a deep concern whether Africa will ever have another leader of his kind. Indeed, he was the new sheriff in town.
Although the future of Africa looks grim in the absence of JPM, I am so confident that; he fought a good fight, he finished the race and he kept the faith.
FARE THEE WELL PATRIOT.
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