Mzalendo JR
JF-Expert Member
- Jun 6, 2012
- 1,193
- 515
A friend recently commented on what he termed the good work the current president is doing in the country but in the same breath he asked if those affected by Prezzo JPM's actions and policies will leave pi as pi. Ding, ding, ding! The bulb went on in my head.
The president is probably acquiring tens of enemies daily. He may have started out with few. The Ukawa biggies who believed JPM 'stole' the election from them have yet to show any fondness for the man. It had to be him. CCM could not have won the 2015 election without the star of John Pombe.
He preached a new gospel of hard work, accountability and love for one another regardless of religious, tribal or political creed. Voters rewarded his party with victories in all provinces around Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, and even Nyasa, the lake that Malawi claims to have exclusive rights to.
Only Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara did voters chose 'mabadiliko' without much hesitation. Six months later the citizens of those opposition stronghold provinces have embraced JPM in ways nobody could have anticipated.
They say time heals all wounds but I don't see Ukawa diehard fans forgiving the now very popular president for the next decade. Now he has to deal with new 'enemies' some of whom come from unexpected quarters.
Think of the single mother who has been selling maandazi, roast cassava and tea at the local primary school gate to support her family. Business was good until 2016 when sales went down until she had to close shop.
Her customers were teachers. Some teachers earn extra from charging pupils for ID cards never delivered, mandatory tuition and contributions not approved by education authorities. JPM brought free education.
Now no teacher dares to charge pupils for anything. Their extra income has dried up. Soon many overfed teachers will become malnourished. And Mama Buns & Tea is out of business. All because of the good Magufuli.
Some business owners used to not paying correct taxes must be cursing the ignoramuses who voted for this president. Tax collectors and traders have colluded to deny Caesar the rightful taxes since the time of Prophet Issa bin Maryam, PBUH.
This is why tax collectors could afford comfortable lives and traders were able to dress in purple robes and afford lavish banquets for the powerful and rich in their societies.
How many tax collectors have been netted by Magufuli's anticorruption silk web? I can bet there are quite a few retired and working tax men and women who can't sleep at night because they do not know when President John will strike again. Same goes for traders and investors who have avoided paying their dues to government. How many tax collectors are praying for 10- years of JPM presidency? If there are, they must be a rare species.
There must be many other persons who curse the day JPM took the oath of office. Ministerial big shots who had been dishing out favours in import duty exemptions via yellow stickers to TRA boys, exemptions given ostensibly for public interest. Now the same big men can't even approve the printing of a few diaries for their ministries.
Members of the local procurement management units who had been benefiting from kickbacks from awarding over-inflated contracts. How will they afford the comfortable lifestyles of their illgotten wealth?
Where will they hide from the long arm of the law? Magufuli and his surgical assistants intend to examine financial records of the last five years for any boils that were not detected and incised.
Think of sugar barons who import shiploads of the sweet crystals for a princely profit whenever there is real or panic-induced artificial sugar shortage. Now there is a man with the power of a democratically elected king who gets into their way.
Even small traders of salt, sugar and cooking flour in Manzese, Sakina and Kirumba city suburbs are not happy when government tells them what price to charge for basic goods like sugar. A housewife used to paying lower prices because everything from cooking salt to rice was affordable before.
Since JPM started preaching on TV about demanding receipts for goods and services so government can take its cut, prices of certain foods and beverages went up. Some will blame Magufuli for higher prices.
A preacher at a struggling establishment must be cursing his luck in 2016, seeing how offerings have plummeted. Perhaps he had planned mega million projects with his followers and now no money is flowing into the church coffers.
How many generous contributors to church fundraisers owe their largesse to money creamed off government contracts or profit and kickbacks from goods containers imported 'duty free?' These days the anti-government politicians have a new rallying cry.
The exact wording eludes me but it goes something like this. The firing and incising of 'boils' in the public sector is not being done properly and should either be slowed down or halted. Really? What is the proper way of dealing with thieves?
When a poor villager steals a chicken worth $3 from his neighbour he is sent to jail. But when a public official causes the nation to lose millions of shillings or dollars in revenue or over expenditure, the president and his team should do what? Form a probe team and submit a report to parliament? Or transfer the official to other duties? This is pretty much what happened for 50 years and can see where it got us.
No. The president should speed up the removal or rotten eggs from his administration. The cancer of corruption has been feeding on the fabric of Tanzania for too long. Now we have a master surgeon to deal with it.
Every provincial commissioner must become his surgical assistant. Whoever has been stealing, misusing and unduly benefiting from public funds must be dealt with expeditiously without undeserved mercy. Those who used to hold work meetings in Dubai, London or similar locations at great expense to the government must be retired from public service.
