Whirlwind Magufuli always wanted to do good for his people

The late President John Pombe Magufuli.

We join the world in expressing our deepest condolences to the people of Tanzania on the loss of their President, John Pombe Magufuli – a truly great man. He came like a whirlwind and left in a whirlwind. We can only pray for God’s special grace and comfort at this time of national mourning. Indeed, Africa has lost a transformational leader.

The entry of President Magufuli into the leadership scene caused a stir, not just in Tanzania, but across Africa and the world – most certainly in Kenya. He soon became the yardstick for leadership in Africa. Almost every leader was measured against the new Tanzanian President, and often given a Mene, Mene, Tekel – weighed and found wanting.

Magufuli’s leadership was characterised by the unorthodox. His word was law, his ideas unchallenged, his hands on the plough. Though ordinarily considered as dictatorship, in leadership studies this is known as directive leadership. He was famous for roadside declarations – greatly loathed by Kenyans – but which he put to great use to sort out issues and to deal with non-performers. Corruption cases that would have dragged on for decades through our Kenyan legal and political systems, were sorted out on the spot. No wonder he was nicknamed Bulldozer. He reminded me of our own Fred Matiangi and the late John Michuki – results oriented.

Of a truth, I was a fan of President Magufuli from the word go. In him I saw a courageous and focused leader whose only desire was to do good for his people. Though he rubbed many the wrong way, there was no discernible tinge of selfishness in all he did. His sincerity and passion, his drive and energy, were all clearly focused on making Tanzania great again – which to a large extent he achieved.

A year or two ago, while doing some research, I felt a deep sense of jealousy when I found that Magufuli had successfully moved his country towards a middle-income nation. Economic pundits predicted that if Tanzania continued on the same growth trajectory for another five to ten years, it was poised to overtake Kenya to become the economic powerhouse in the East African region. This at a time when we in Kenya seemed to be doing everything to undermine our own economic growth – massive corruption, toxic politics, and serious ethnic animosity.

Add to that a highly bureaucratic constitutional order, where the country’s CEO cannot appoint a cleaner without public participation and cannot fire a watchman without facing a court case, then you understand why our regional position may have been threatened by the Magufuli wave.

However, President Magufuli was equally controversial. His relationship with the international community had been less than cordial. His spats with Kenya did not endear him to his closest neighbour. But what put the late President at the centre of global controversy, was his stance on coronavirus. Not only did the President dismiss Covid-19 as a non-issue, but he also consistently took the position that prayers were adequate to deal with the virus. Almost every Sunday during this season of coronavirus, the President went to church and urged Tanzanians to call on God to protect them from the virus. At some point the President declared Tanzania corona free, courtesy of divine intervention. Many outsiders have been highly sceptical, especially as the virus seemed to be claiming lives in the country, particularly of high profile persons. The President himself is claimed to have been felled by Covid.

The big question therefore that I have been bombarded with in the last few days is whether the President was wrong in ignoring science and putting trust in God. Did God let Tanzanians down? The truth is that spiritual matters are highly complex, with no easy answers. Scriptures promise that whatever we ask in the name of Jesus will be granted. Therefore, President Magufuli’s consistent and persistent call on Tanzanians to look to God was perfectly in line with the teachings of Scripture.

However, coming to God in prayer, does not necessarily mean that we cannot also use medications or take precautionary measures to protect our lives. Unfortunately, many Christians take either of two extremes – faith without science, or science without faith. Neither is biblical, especially when it comes to leadership. In the Bible, leadership is equated to shepherding.

The shepherding role demands that when we see or sense danger, our first task is to lead the sheep into safety. It is no coward who runs from real danger. Even Jesus hid from a crowd that wanted to throw Him down the cliff. He knew He had not come to die on the cliff.

Whatever the case, the fact remains – in Magufuli, we have lost a great leader. For this we mourn.

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