Thursday, March 28, 2024

#WhatWouldMagufuliDo :Tanzanian president sweeps streets on independence day

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Tanzanian President John Magufuli joins a clean-up event outside the State House in Dar es Salaam on December 9, 2015 Magufuli cancelled Independence Day celebrations and ordered a national day of clean-up instead. (AFP Photo/Daniel Hayduk)
Tanzanian President John Magufuli joins a clean-up event outside the State House in Dar es Salaam on December 9, 2015 Magufuli cancelled Independence Day celebrations and ordered a national day of clean-up instead. (AFP Photo/Daniel Hayduk)

Dar es Salaam (AFP) – Tanzanian President John Magufuli surprised onlookers Wednesday when he walked out of State House to collect rubbish off the streets, after cancelling independence day celebrations for a national cleanup.

Magufuli, who took power last month after winning October 25 elections, has introduced a swathe of austerity cuts and crackdowns on public corruption.

Dozens of fishermen joined in the clean up with their president, who shovelled leaves and plastic rubbish close to a fish market near the presidential palace as a crowd of hundreds looked on, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

“Let us work together to keep our country, cities, homes and workplaces clean, safe and healthy,” the smiling Magufuli said, as he picked up litter with his hands.

Street cleaning took place across the economic capital Dar es Salaam, with plumes of smoke rising into the sky as residents burned piles of litter.

Tanzania is also struggling to stem a major cholera outbreak, which health officials said last month had infected nearly 10,000 people and killed 150.

The Citizen newspaper carried a cartoon showing Tanzania’s national fag waving on a sweeping brush as the flag pole.

“Tanzania has changed – this is a new Tanzania, ” said Anyitike Mwakitalima, a resident of Dar es Salaam, as he took a break cleaning a stretch of beach.

Former president Jakaya Kikwete, who stepped down in November after serving his two-term limit, took part in cleaning in his home town of Chalinze sweeping and gathering rubbish.

“I am happy with his exercise. Let us give our president full support in his campaign to fight cholera and other communicable diseases,” Kikwete told national television, adding that he was impressed with his successor, who is from the same political party.

“I am very happy with measures he is taking to curb inefficiency, tax evasion and other malpractices in public offices, I am very proud of him,” Kikwete said.

Since Magufuli took office, some officials have been jailed for lateness, the head of the tax authority has been suspended and the use of public funds to pay for Christmas and New Year greeting cards banned.

Annual independence celebrations usually see military parades, choirs and traditional dances at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania, then Tanganyika, won independence from Britain on December 9, 1961.

32 COMMENTS

    • Dear Tanzanians, could you please lend us John Magufuli just for a month? We can even top up Kambwili if you want.

    • Did the fishermen get a bottle of Jemasoni after cleaning? In Zambia, that would happen?Leadership is very important, Look at Kagame in Rwanda and Khama in Botswana

    • What an insulting president. He thinks Nyerere and Kaunda gt independence from cleaning? Some traditions should not be matched with rubbish in streets.

    • This Magufuli is a dictator, how can he jail civil servants for reporting late to work? He will be beating up those useless Tanzanian soccer players. No celebrations in Tanzania, what a sad country. Does he even drink that president? Technically Edgar Lungu is barred to enter Tanzania, because there will be no traditional dancers to dance with.

    • THINK BEFORE YOU COMMENT. WHY CAN’T JUST FORMULATE EFFECT MUNICIPAL STRUCTURES TO TAKE CARE OF TOWNS CLEANLINESS AND HYGIENE? WELL, IF HE WILL BE CLEANING EVERY MORNING BEFORE HE GOES TO HIS OFFICE, THEN LET HIM CONTINUE THE GOOD HABIT. WAS HE ALSO SEEING DIRTY BEFORE HE BECAME PRESIDENT OR HE HAS JUST STARTED TO SEE IT, NOW?

    • stupid president,you are reducing presidency to sweeping streets.you friends have things do.problem with old men in power.

    • @Peter great questions. You Tanzania cadres answer PETER. Answer him, because we know that you are praising was a minister for years!

  1. Dear Tanzanians, treasure your president and support him. Signs this far shows that he means well for you and your country. What Africa hungers for is the sprouting of many Mangufulis across the continen. May he not grow weary and get power-drunk like his counterparts.

  2. This was a genuine act by the president, because in the picture or other pictures i have seen on other sites, there are no heavily armed police/soldiers in uniform guarding him.

  3. WEMFWA WALIBIPA PANTU TATA SATA NGALICITA SORT THESE LAZY CIVIL SERVANTS MORE ESPECIALLY FROM ONE OR TWO REGIONS IN ZAMBIA WHO THINKS THEY ARE HARD WORKING YET THEY ARE LAZY.

    • Iwe, Sata was just ‘holed up’ in state house after winning elections.You cant compare him to Magufuli.Acepa sana.

  4. Nothing new here, it is global. In our country, our beloved great leader has been at it countless times doing the same away from the glare of cameras.

    Our beloved great Leader has led the crusade to sweep all our reserves – which the irresponsible MMD left. Our hospitals have been swept clean of all medicines just as the mines have been swept clean of workers.

    I too have emulated our able, gallant and beloved leader by sweeping ZNBC of all sensible news. Even when you look at my village, Loan, you will see that most peoples pockets have been swept clean.

    Horny Chipuba Kabilibili, Bsc ( CopperMountain), Msc (Mpatamatu polytechnic)
    Minister of Defacation

  5. Mangufuli is such a humble man! Edgar Lungu is just a lazy bum from Chawama forced by hyenas to become President. All the hyenas wanted were satellite phones.

  6. Your ANGLO AMERICAN is cutting down 85 000 jobs.Not in zambia.You told us this problem was as a result of bad policies and they will come and run our mines…YOUR COMMENT HH.

  7. This man is putting to shame a lot of parasitic lazy Presidents like Lungu, Zuma etc. ..I hope they will not corrupt him at the next get together!

    • In Tanzania, Ministry of works has huge budget. He was Minister and it come clean. Not “relatively clean”. The “trick” will be assembling clean Cabinet and real success will be if Cabinet remains clean for next five years.
      Good luck to you Mr. Magafuli

  8. for how long? wait until power gets to his head. Dear TZ brothers learn from us, we had Mr.Sata who even demanded to travel in a small blue and white mini bus when he just into power, but no sooner than later, it was a chopper.
    He would go to church and mix with commoners, no sooner than later, church was cut off completely.

  9. Invent your own president.
    Don’t wish upon another coutry’s. It takes all kinds of factors to work in harmony to produce such a president.

    Grow your own!

  10. Comment: As a Zambian in diaspora i was one of those who took part in cleaning our working environment in DAR. This was for real guys, i even remembered our departed King Cobra. RIP King of King.

  11. I hope the TanzanianPresident continues these changes. I applaud him. He is not a I tutor for jailing civil servants who report late for work. This group of people can be very tardy andactlike they own the country. His actions will change the attitude.
    Go Magufuli!

  12. Me too am liking this president. Tanzania will never be the same. Soon it will be s great paradise. Mark my words. We need this guy in Zambia for a month and Lusaka will change.

  13. Once upon a time there was a president from SADC region named Joyce Banda who at a certain point used to go to fetch water from the river (on her head) with the commoners, five months later she even couldn’t go out of state house gates unless for GOVT function, 3yrs later she is based in Washington DC every morning flying to New York for work schedules at UN offices. Watch out if Mugufuli will do it for long, he is just attention seeker….

  14. Magufuli should be careful so as not to loose the plot … Africa generally lacks in leadership not labourers. He will be more effective working through others not the theatrics of himself indulging in garbage collection.

    So far so good but that’s enough. He should now focus on devising sustainable and effective policies.

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