Tanzanian President John Magufuli's purge on graft and public sector
reforms won him plaudits. But his leadership style, which critics say
borders on intolerance, is increasingly coming under scrutiny. How will
he deal with the onslaught form the church? PHOTO | NMG
The honeymoon appears to be finally over for Tanzanian President
John Magufuli, who initially charmed the world with his fight against
corruption as critics raised eyebrows over his leadership style which,
they say, does not tolerate dissent.
Two years since he
replaced Jakaya Kikwete, President Magufuli received a scathing
Christmas Day reality check from an unlikely quarter — the Church —
which exhorted him to be more accommodative of views different to his
own and those of the ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Bishop
Zachariah Kakobe of Full Gospel Bible Fellowship in Dar es Salaam,
while calling on the president to repent, said the country appeared to
be reversing democratic gains.
“If the country has been
returned to a one-party state, we should be told so. You just go to
Parliament and pass a law to effect that, because you (CCM) are the
majority,” said Bishop Kakobe.
The timing of the
attacks from the church appear to be in response to Dr Magufuli’s
presidential clemency to two paedophiles who were serving life sentences
for molesting girls.
Constitution review
The
political undertones of the criticism from the church had been building
since September when the Immigration Department questioned a Catholic
bishop Severine NiweMugizi after he asked President Magufuli to resume
talks on a new Constitution (Katiba).
Bishop
NiweMugizi’s Rulenge Catholic Diocese borders Rwanda. Without Katiba,
the bishop said, Magufuli’s presidency was doomed to fail. The president
had earlier said constitutional review was neither among his priorities
nor campaign promises.
“Even God does not intimidate
his critics and He is mightier than Magufuli. Who are you not to be
criticised? Military forces are not mightier than God… it is high time
Magufuli repented,” Bishop Kakobe said.
The CCM has not
responded to the criticism but Frank Kamugisha, a regional Parents Wing
chairman, quoted Romans 13:1 (For there is no authority except that
which God has established) in urging the bishop to submit himself to the
governing authority. But, more on the age-old church versus state
debate later.
President Magufuli has recently come under stinging criticism over his leadership style.
War against corruption
When he took over from Jakaya Kikwete in October 2015, he earned international acclaim for his war against corruption and efforts to change the work ethic by sacking corrupt ministers and dismissing lazy workers on the spot whenever he visited government institutions unannounced.
When he took over from Jakaya Kikwete in October 2015, he earned international acclaim for his war against corruption and efforts to change the work ethic by sacking corrupt ministers and dismissing lazy workers on the spot whenever he visited government institutions unannounced.
But locals were alarmed at the manner in which he went about sacking public servants in public.
That
concern over his leadership style appears to have grown into open
criticism despite most leading opposition politicians not willing to
speak on the issue last week for fear of reprisals.
However,
CCM insiders term the criticism as corruption fighting back, fuelled by
powerful cartels that had formerly benefitted from tenders in sectors
such as mining, which President Magufuli has been trying to streamline.
Shortly
after he came under attack for the clemency to the paedophiles,
Christian clerics started voicing concern over the shrinking space for
freedom of speech and opinion.
Bishop Kakobe told his
congregation during a Christmas service sermon that the president should
repent for muzzling political expression and running the country as if
it were a single-party state.
Retrogressive child policies
In
June, the head of state stirred anxiety when he announced that no
pregnant girl would be allowed back to class in a state school after
giving birth.
“As long as I am president no pregnant
student will be allowed to return to school. We cannot allow this
immoral behaviour to permeate our primary and secondary schools. After
getting pregnant, you are done.”
He
justified his policy pronouncement on grounds that pregnant girls would
be setting a bad example to their peers and that new mothers would be
disruptive. “After calculating a few maths sums she’d be asking the
teacher in the classroom; ‘Let me go out and breastfeed my crying
baby’,” he said.
Civil society groups see such an edict as a reversal of the progressive child policies that were put in place by Mr Kikwete.
Opposition nearly cowed
In
June 2016, the Magufuli administration banned opposition rallies on
grounds that the campaigns were over and the opposition should wait till
the next campaigns in 2020, attracting hordes of criticism from the
opposition.
Recently there has been an exodus of
politicians crossing over from the opposition Chadema to CCM amid
allegations of bribery to encourage the defections.
Opposition
Chief Whip, Tundu Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in
September, has already read mischief into the defections, saying they
showed “a lack of principle” and arise from political pressure and a
desire to reap personal benefit.
He
maintained that Chadema’s goal to bring genuine reforms to Tanzania
remained unshaken adding that the government needed to respect human
rights and dignity of its citizens.
Even within the
CCM, President Magufuli is said to be struggling to gain acceptance
among party veterans. He was seen as an “outsider” who clinched the
party nominations following protest votes from Edward Lowassa supporters
who were angry that the name of the former Prime Minister was missing
from the list of eligible aspirants.
Could Mr Kikwete
have had his successor in mind last August when he called upon ruling
parties in Africa not to view opposition parties as enemies but partners
in fostering democratic principles based on the rule of law?
Church versus State?
With
the Tanzanian opposition nearly cowed, the clergy is now taking on
President Magufuli. Some critics have, however, accused Bishop Kakobe of
mixing religion and politics and are urging him to “render unto Caesar
what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Two days
after Bishop Kakobe’s outburst, Bishop Benson Bagonza of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Tanzania, Diocese of Karagwe in the region of
Kagera, criticised the notion of separation between religion and
politics.
On his Facebook page, Bishop Benson Bagonza criticised this tirade against religious leaders addressing political issues.
“When
they build schools they are not (seen to) interfere with the Ministry
of Education; when they build hospitals they do not interfere with the
Ministry of Health; when they construct water wells they do not
interfere with the Ministry of Water, but when they criticise the
political system they are told they are interfering with politics.
Something is wrong here,” he wrote.
In a seeming
response to the criticism, the government on Thursday threatened to
revoke the registration of religious organisations that “mix religion
and politics.”
“Recently, some leaders of religious
societies have been using their sermons to analyse political issues,
which is contrary to the law,” said a statement by Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Projest Rwegasira. “Any violation of
the law could lead to cancellation of the registration of the concerned
religious society.”
Reporting by Christopher Kidanka, Dorothy Ndalu and Fred Oluoch.
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