John Magufuli

John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021.

John Magufuli was born in 1959 in northwestern Tanzania (then Tanganyika), on the shores of Lake Victoria, into a poor family.

He lived in a small thatched house, looking after the cattle and selling milk and fish to support his family.

Magufuli started his education at the Chato Primary School from 1967 to 1974 and went on to the Katoke Seminary in Biharamulo for his secondary education from 1975 to 1977 before relocating to Lake Secondary School in 1977 and graduating in 1978.

He joined Mkwawa High School for his Advanced level studies in 1979 and graduated in 1981.

That same year he joined Mkwawa College of Education (a constituent college of the University of Dar es Salaam) for a Diploma in Education Science, majoring in chemistry, Mathematics, and Education.

Magufuli ventured into elective politics after a short period as a teacher at The Sengerema Secondary School between 1982 and 1983.

He taught chemistry and mathematics.

Later on, he quit his teaching job and was employed by The Nyanza Cooperative Union Limited as an industrial chemist.

Magufuli earned his Bachelor of Science in education degree, majoring in Chemistry and Mathematics as teaching subjects from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1988.

He remained there from 1989 to 1995, when he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) representing Chato district.

He was appointed Deputy Minister for Works in his first term as MP.

He also earned his master's degree, and doctorate degrees in chemistry from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1994 and 2009, respectively.

First elected as a Member of Parliament in 1995, he served in the Cabinet of Tanzania as Deputy Minister of Works from 1995 to 2000, Minister of Works from 2000 to 2005, Minister of Lands and Human Settlement from 2006 to 2008, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries from 2008 to 2010, and as Minister of Works for a second time from 2010 to 2015.

He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and was chairman of the Southern African Development Community from 2019 to 2020.

He retained his seat in the 2000 election and was promoted to a full ministerial position under the same docket.

After President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was requested to take office, he moved John Joseph Magufuli to the post of Minister of Lands and Human Settlement on 4 January 2006.

Subsequently, he served as Minister of Livestock and Fisheries from 2008 to 2010 and again as Minister of Works from 2010 to 2015.

Running as the candidate of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the country's dominant party, Magufuli won the October 2015 presidential election and was sworn in on 5 November 2015; he was re-elected in 2020.

He ran on a platform of reducing government corruption and spending while also investing in Tanzania's industries, but his rule had autocratic tendencies, as seen in restrictions on freedom of speech, restrictions on LGBTQ rights, and a crackdown on members of the political opposition and civil society groups.

Despite all the accusations, a spokesman for the ruling party assured that Magufuli would not remain in power beyond the two limits allowed by the constitution.

Under his presidency, Tanzania experienced one of the strongest economic growths on the continent (6% on average per year according to the IMF) and moved from the category of lower-low income countries to lower-middle income countries.

Contrary to leaders elsewhere in the world, Magufuli ordered COVID-19 testing to stop and resisted calls to implement public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania.

He also expressed distrust of American- and European-developed vaccines, preferring to rely on faith to protect his nation.

Magufuli's approach has been characterised as COVID-19 denialism.

His death on 17 March 2021 was attributed by the government to a long-standing heart issue.

He was succeeded by his vice-president, Samia Suluhu.

On 12 July 2015, Magufuli was nominated as CCM's presidential candidate for the 2015 election, after winning a majority vote in the final round of the primary over two opponents: Justice Minister and former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, and the African Union Ambassador to the United States, Amina Salum Ali.

Although Magufuli faced a strong challenge from opposition candidate and previous CCM political party member Edward Lowassa in the election, held on 25 October 2015, Magufuli was declared the winner by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on 29 October; he received 58% of the vote.

His running mate, Samia Suluhu, was also declared vice-president.

He was sworn in on 5 November 2015.

In late 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Dodoma for improving the economy of the country.

In July 2020, Magufuli was nominated as the CCM's presidential candidate in elections scheduled for October 2020.

His nomination was not opposed after the expulsion from the party earlier in the year of Bernard Membe, a former foreign minister who had planned to challenge the nomination.

He received the highest votes and was therefore re-elected to extend his presidency until 2025 for a second term.

According to Al Jazeera, "The election was marred by allegations of arrests of candidates and protesters, restrictions on agents of political parties to access polling stations, multiple voting, pre-ticking of ballots, and widespread blocking of social media."

A local elections watchdog group noted a heavy deployment of military and police whose conduct created a "climate of fear".

Writing in the Journal of Democracy, political scientist Dan Paget stated that "The CCM sweep was an authoritarian landslide, achieved through electoral manipulation that was unprecedented in both scale and audacity. This was accompanied by high levels of violent oppression".

After taking office, Magufuli immediately began to impose measures to curb government spending, such as barring unnecessary foreign travel by government officials, using cheaper vehicles and board rooms for transport and meetings respectively, shrinking the delegation for a tour of the Commonwealth from 50 people to 4, dropping its sponsorship of a World AIDS Day exhibition in favour of purchasing AIDS medication, banning officials from flying first and business class, and discouraging lavish events and parties by public institutions (such as cutting the budget of a state dinner inaugurating the new parliamentary session).

Magufuli reduced his own salary from US$15,000 to US$4,000 per month.