In October 2015, a new president took office in Tanzania in the person of John Magufuli. His willingness not only to talk about reforms, but also to implement them, can be seen in many concrete examples. This has earned him the nickname “Bulldozer”. He is thus sending out a strong signal against corruption.
Catherine Hollinger, Program Coordinator Tanzania
After the initial unrest following the elections in October 2015, the situation on the mainland calmed down and the new President John Magufuli took office. After just a short time, the population gave him a nickname: “Bulldozer”. The reason for this is his great will to reform. He is cleaning up and doing everything he can to break through the corrupt structures in the government. For example, the new president has cut the celebrations in his honor from three to one day and donated the remaining money to hospitals. He has also massively downsized his delegation, whose members no longer all travel first class, no longer receive Audi A8s as official vehicles and are increasingly traveling by car instead of by plane.
Let’s get to work!
He also immediately dismissed directors in important institutions and adopted new approaches. In particular, Magufuli has abolished the “sitting allowances” (additional bonuses for civil servants). Magufuli does not see why one should be paid an allowance for a job for which one receives a monthly salary. These are just some of the things Magufuli has already implemented. His motto is Hapa Kazi Tu (Let’s work). The popular hashtag #WhatWouldMagufuliDo on Twitter has almost created a cult around Magafuli’s thirst for action.
Sign against rampant corruption
These developments are very positive for us and are a strong sign for a country as corrupt as Tanzania. We can only speculate whether he will be able to maintain this pace of reform and how great the frustration will be if the successes do not materialize. We hope that Magufuli can continue to bring about important changes with such energy and that he receives support in doing so. He cannot fight corruption alone.
Allegations of electoral fraud
Following the presidential election in October 2015, a dispute first broke out over the winner of the election. The opposition accused the government of electoral fraud. However, the electoral commission declared John Magufuli, the candidate of the ruling revolutionary party CCM, as the new president. According to the official results, Magufuli achieved 58 percent of the vote. His party has ruled Tanzania since independence from Great Britain in 1961.
