On Magufuli...

The WhatWouldMagufuli hashtag on twitter had me in stitches last week, with people making jokes about the new Tanzanian President’s cost containment initiatives. Magufuli is on a serious mission to mimimise unnecessary expenditure and diverting the resources to more critical issues such as health delivery.

African politicians are a very trick bunch some, if not most, will definitely have a problem with having their state funded luxuries being revoked. Remember Thomas Sankara and how after all his efforts to improve the lives of Burkina Faso’s people and reduce their reliance on foreign aid, he was assassinated after only four years in power. Not because he was doing the wrong thing but because some of his decision were not popular. In fact the same general who led the coup that paved Sankara’s entry into power was the same general who planned his assassination.  

Back to Magufuli, best wishes to Magufuli and may other African leaders learn from his bold initiatives to spend only the necessary and concentrate more on improving the lives of ordinary civilians who through their votes have literally put their lives in his hands…