Is Samia Perfecting Magufuli’s Path or She is Creating Her Own?
By Michael Mallya
Following the untimely demise of the fifth President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the late Dr. John Pombe Magufuli, Samia Suluhu Hassan took to reign as the new President of Tanzania.
Samia Suluhu Hassan who served under Magufuli’s regime as the Vice President was officially sworn on March 19, 2021, as the sixth President of Tanzania. This move earned her the title of the first female President in the country’s history.
Affectionately referred to as “Mama Samia”, President Samia is described as an eloquently humble leader who discharges powers with the highest level of humility contrary to his predecessor who was referred to as a ‘’Bulldozer’’, in relation to his forceful leadership style which critics said went against established laws and Tanzanian constitution.
As with any leader the late Magufuli had been labelled with both good and bad perceptions. On the positive side, he was labelled as a reformist, a hardcore nationalist, and a visionary leader who was in love with his country. His critics, however, described him as an autocratic leader who cracked down on democracy and civil freedoms at the expense of his intolerance to criticism.
The truth though stands out that no matter how one can describe the late Magufuli, still the impact of his actions accompanied by his resolute tone was felt in developing Tanzania. He made his followers believe that they can and set the standards to which citizens could assess their country’s progress particularly in the development of infrastructures and exploration of natural resources.
It is fair to say the Tanzanian citizens and the international community were not used to Samia, perhaps because of her predecessor’s style of leadership which made him the mouthpiece of the nation.
It is through her first speech as the president of the United Republic of Tanzania that made sceptics look at her with a different view.
“…this is time to bury our differences, and come together as a nation, it’s time to comfort and love each other…This is not a time to look forward with fear but it is time to look forward full of hopes and confidence. It is not time to think about the past but time to look at the future. It is not time to point fingers at each other, it is the time to hold each other’s hands and march forward. It is time to wipe tears and build a new Tanzania that the late President Magufuli envisioned…” said President Samia in her first speech as the President of Tanzania.
The speech received praises from politicians and pundits who said it was relieving and healing to the nation. One of the prominent figures that commended the speech is the former president, Jakaya Kikwete who said the speech revived hopes for the better future of Tanzania.
The untimely death of President Magufuli raised concerns over the smooth transition of power in a country that has never experienced such an event. Questions over power shift lingered within and outside the ruling party. Some were afraid of whether a woman will be able to take charge of a country that has never experienced a female head of state since its independence. Others were afraid of her ability to wear the shoes of his predecessor who among other things he had set public expectations of the government so high.
President Samia responded boldly to the sceptics of her capability. When she officiated the state burial ceremony of the late Magufuli in the capital city of Dodoma.
“For those in doubt if this woman can be the president of the United Republic of Tanzania, I want to tell you, the one standing here is the President. I would like to say it again, the one standing here is the President of the United Republic of Tanzania whose physique is feminine’’, affirmed President Samia in a serious tone.
After Magufuli was laid to rest at his hometown of Chato in Geita region, all eyes were on President Samia to see how she would line up her executive team to take on the duty. Speculations were all over, everyone was curious to know who will be appointed as the vice president of Tanzania. People were curious to know whether she will overhaul the cabinet and other offices and come up with new faces. People were also thinking of the fate of the nation following the tough leadership of her predecessor.
President Samia tackled the uncertainty in style. She nominated the unpopular name, the then Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Philip Mpango for the position. She later announced the cabinet and appointed other officials including the Chief Secretary of the State, Permanent and Deputy Permanent Secretaries as well as heads of key state agencies.
During the swearing-in of ministers after a minor reshuffle of the cabinet, President Samia affirmed the new direction of her sixth government by issuing new directives regarding creating a conducive environment for business and investment in the country. She ordered the responsible ministries and agencies to address the bureaucratic challenges and practices that hinders smooth business conduct in Tanzania. She also condemned coercive collection of tax and ordered the taxman to rectify the predicaments.
“…You should create more taxpayers. Your current trend is reducing the number of taxpayers, you are killing businesses. You are using a lot of force to collect taxes. Now those whom you impose heavy taxes upon, confiscate their tools of work, freeze their bank accounts, forcefully take money from accounts, just because the law allows you to do so, once this happens most business people opt to close business and go to other countries,” President Samia told the Minister of Finance and Planning.
The statement received applauses from actors in the business sector, stakeholders and members of the public. The sense of new dawn and new beginning could be felt from everybody. Even some critics who were not on good terms with the fifth-term government started to applause President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
It is fair to say that until April 1st the new President had not yet set the direction of her new administration quite clearly. She had only given a few hints on some of the things that made people optimistic about the future of Tanzania.
On April 7th, 2021 the day she swore in government officials, President Samia, unlike the direction his predecessor took, issued a bold and mind-blowing speech that redefined the vision for Tanzania. In her 80 minutes speech, she pinpointed key priority areas on which the sixth government will focus. Priority areas include natural resources exploration, tourism and conservation of biodiversity, education, health, construction and improvement of infrastructures, business and investment, energy and water as well as diplomacy. Her approach though seemed to be contrary to that of her predecessor.
Exploration of Natural Resources: President Samia instructed responsible ministries and agencies to fast track the processes necessary for the extraction of minerals specifically mentioning nickel and helium minerals. She also insisted on the need for the government to take the necessary steps required to ensure there are good terms between investors in the mining sector and the government mentioning the contractual relations between Barrick Corporation and Tanzania as one of these that need attention.
“We should kickstart the extraction of nickel, it makes no use of boasting of being a mineral-rich country while some minerals are yet to be explored…let’s fast-track the negations with the company,” ordered President Samia.
“We should not reach a point of flexing muscles. We still need the investors. If there are taxes which the ministry of Finance cannot exempt, bring them to us so that we can deal with them,” she added.
Health Sector: President Samia made a complete U-Turn on the COVID-19 response saying that the government will formulate a special experts committee to investigate the pandemic and come up with reliable recommendations and solutions. President Samia insisted that Tanzania can neither isolate itself from the international community nor ignore the pandemic.
“They [experts] will tell us more about the pandemic, and advise us about what the world is proposing. We cannot accept everything as it comes, but we also cannot isolate ourselves as an island while the world is moving in a different direction.” President Samia commenting on Covid-19.
Another issue that President Samia touched on in the health sector is the availability of health insurance to all. Samia instructed the Ministry of Health to work on the matter and get done with the processes to make sure all citizens are provided with health insurance. She also touched base on the availability of quality health services especially to underprivileged groups including elders.
Tourism and Conservation of Biodiversity: Samia pointed out the need by the Ministry of Tourism to address the challenges resulting from Covid-19 in order to rescue the tourism sector in Tanzania. She reiterated the need to work on Covid-19 measures to assure visitors of their safety. She also hinted at the importance of the protection of biodiversity by controlling human activities in Ngorongoro which is a world heritage centre.
Business and Investment: President Samia has resurfaced the playing ground for business and investment in Tanzania. In her speech, Samia reiterated the way Tanzania’s image of business and investment has been deteriorated by what she called bureaucracy and mismanagements by responsible government officials. Samia expressed her regrets on the deterioration which she cited to be denying the country revenues and employment opportunities.
Samia ordered responsible ministries and government agencies including the Centre for Investment (TCI) and the Revenue Authority (TRA) to make sure all incongruences are addressed with a view of opening up a business environment for both foreign and local investors. In her speech, she underlined words such as ‘we need the investors more than how they need us.’
“Our image out there is not pleasing at all. Please bring back our trust to investors and attract them to come back. They might need us to survive but we truly need them the most,” said President Samia.
Education: President Samia came clean about the need for reforms in the education sector focusing on the core of the education system that is the curriculum. President Samia ordered the Ministry of Education to review the current curriculum to make sure it serves the need of today world. She also ordered the employment of 6000 teachers and completion of the 46 girls’ secondary schools with immediate effect.
“Let’s all make self-evaluation as Tanzanians to find the curriculum that will help our youth and develop our nation academically,”
Infrastructure: President Samia expressed the willingness to continue with strategic projects most of which being infrastructures. President Samia insisted on the need to address challenges such as delays of payment and bureaucracy in approval of working permits and tender’s deployment which bears delays in the implementation and causes costs of implementation to double. President Samia also emphasised local content saying that the government should prioritise qualified in-country engineers.
Press Freedom: Unexpectedly, Samia made a bold decision concerning press freedom in the country as she ordered the authorities to lift the ban on all media that were banned in the previous regime.
“I am told you revoked licenses of some media outlets, including some online television stations. You should lift the ban but tell them to follow the law and government’s guidelines,” President Samia told the Ministry of Information.
Diplomacy and International Relations: “If you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go with others” President Samia quoted this saying when she was addressing the need to revisit Tanzania’s diplomatic relations with other nations. President Samia insisted that she appointed the current minister based on her experience in the diplomatic relations arena. She said she wants to see Tanzania back on track when it comes to positive mutual relations because Tanzania cannot isolate itself from the global order.
Agriculture: She insisted on the need to create a real blue economy by creating enabling environment for farmers to conduct modern farming and have access to markets.
Energy and Water: President Samia emphasised on enhanced rural electrification. She also instructed the responsible ministry to ensure 95 per cent of the urban population is supplied with water while 85 per cent of rural Tanzanian access water by 2025.
No matter how you choose to look at President Samia and her administration, it is clearly seen by many that there is a new dawn in Tanzania. In less than a month, Samia has been able to ease the pressure on power transition and make the most of the people optimistic about the future of Tanzania.
Some analysts, activists and opposition members say it is too early to judge, and they recall 2015 when Magufuli took office and everyone was excited about the way he addressed issues, such as corruption, embezzlement of public funds, negligence in public offices, cutting down foreign trips and built infrastructure, but things took an unexpected turn in the course of his time in office
How do you find the odds for Samia? Leave us a comment in the section below.
