We deserve to know where President John Magufuli is

President John Pombe Magufuli at a past event in Chato Town, Northern Tanzania. [Courtesy]

Their political rallies are not the rumbustious type as happens in Kenya or Uganda. For a taste of political ruckus, the joke among Tanzania’s chattering classes goes, most tune into Kenyan TV stations, where this is served daily.

The Tanzanians stand out as the most polite, patriotic and cohesive of most African countries. In Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, Paul Collier an Oxford University professor of development economics, argues that creating a national identity helps to trump politics of ethnic division by persuading people not to vote blindly for the party of their ethnic group (as happened in 2008 in Kenya) but for the party with policies geared towards development and progress and stability.