Author: LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: CCM Presidential candidate, Dr John Magufuli, has been described by local and international different analysts as a self-marketing candidate based on his unmatched performance in his first term of leadership.
According to the analysts, Dr Magufuli’s performance which has seen the country implementing a number of flagship projects in almost every sector, serves as scorecard in an ongoing presidential race.
Some of the key projects implemented during the leadership of President Magufuli include the construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), and Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project that is expected to produce 2,115 megawatts of electricity and Ubungo Intersection Flyover.
Others are Julius Nyerere International Airport’s Terminal 3 and rural electrification that has seen 9,570 villages being connected to the national grid in the past five years from 2,018 when he took over presidency.
University of Dar es Salaam’s Political Science and Public Administration Lecturer, Dr Richard Mbunda told the ‘africa-press’ in an interview that marketing Dr Magufuli in the ongoing election is very easy because his achievements in the past five years of his reign leave visible and volumes to market him automatically.
He said Dr Magufuli is a model leader in Africa who used science in implementing his political agenda that saw Tanzania recording remarkable achievements in various sectors.
He said unlike other politicians, who make pledges without fulfilling them, Dr Magufuli employed a science-based approach to implement political promises that he made to Tanzania nearly five years ago, and strategically tracked them.
Dr Mbunda said reforms in the mining sector have helped the country to earn its fair share from the sector and formulation of the laws to secure the interests of citizens, besides establishing the Mining Commission, and introducing Mineral Centres to eliminate mineral smuggling and crackdown on tax evasion.
“The achievements attained in the past five years of President Magufuli are evident and marketable… that is why local and foreign analysts have views that he is best suited for re-election,” Dr Mbunda added.
He said the fifth phase government directed efforts on the construction of SGR and JNHPP which are all self marketing.
Ruaha University College Prof Gaudence Mpangala said that there is no doubt that Dr Magufuli has attained a lot in social and economic development.
He said that Dr Magufuli has performed well on infrastructure and implementation of a number of projects, which have uplifted the country’s development.
A South African based African Affairs Magazine cited various reasons as to why CCM presidential flag bearer, Dr Magufuli, is best suited for re-election among them domestic resource mobilization and financing of development projects.
The magazine reported that, reforms in Tanzania’s vastly potential mining sector culminated in the formulation of ‘The Natural Wealth and Resources (Permanent Sovereignty) Act, 2017’ – popular simple as the ‘Permanent Sovereignty Act.’
It said the Act requires Parliamentary approval for investor-state agreements for all future investments in Mining. Such agreements must “fully secure” the interests of Tanzanian citizens.
It also restricts investors/miners from exporting minerals in the raw form, repatriating funds and accessing international dispute resolution mechanism among others.
According to the magazine during the fifth-phase government of President Magufuli, Tanzanians witnessed a raft of measures in the sector that included – but were not limited to – the establishment of mineral markets and buying centres in various parts of the country. These were intended to facilitate and secure ready access by small-scale miners to markets.
The Canada-based Barrick Gold Corporation also seized the golden opportunity to resolve once and for all its long-standing disputes and other issues with the Government- partly resulting in increased Government stake in the corporation’s businesses, and recovery of outstanding payments.
If further reported that ever since the ‘Magufuli reforms’ were enacted, revenue collections from mining have grown significantly.
For instance, mining revenues increased from 194bn/- in the 2016/17 fiscal year to 346b/- in the 2018/19 fiscal year.
Likewise, with the establishment of mineral markets for small-scale miners in their operational areas, the miners were able to sell minerals valued at Tsh1.088 trillion in total between March 2019 and February 2020.
According to the magazine, infrastructure development manifests itself in a number of ways –including construction of roads, railways, marine ports, airports, ship-building, schools, hospitals and a bazillion other construction-related sectors. One such project that is benefiting from increased domestic resource mobilisation is railways infrastructure.
Recently, a researcher with the Pretoria- based Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Ringisai Chikohomero, hinted that Dr Magufuli has endeared himself to many Tanzanians with his non-compromising approach to a number of issues that directly touch voters’ lives.
Mr Chikohomero further narrates that the performance of Magufuli’s administration on the socio-economic front has weakened the opposition’s standing as an alternative that can deliver better.
