John Magufuli

Dr John Pombe Magufuli
5th President of Tanzania
Assumed office
5 November 2015
Vice President Samia Suluhu
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa
Preceded by Jakaya Kikwete
Minister of Works
In office
28 November 2010 – 5 November 2015
President Jakaya Kikwete
Preceded by Shukuru Kawambwa
In office
November 2000 – 21 December 2005
President Benjamin Mkapa
Succeeded by Basil Mramba
Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Development
In office
13 February 2008 – 6 November 2010
Preceded by Anthony Diallo
Succeeded by David Mathayo David
Minister of Lands and Human Settlements
In office
6 January 2006 – 13 February 2008
President Jakaya Kikwete
Succeeded by John Chiligati
Member of Parliament for
Biharamulo East and Chato
In office
November 1995 – July 2015
Succeeded by Kalemani Medard
Personal details
Born (1959-10-29) 29 October 1959
Chato, Geita, Tanganyika
Nationality Tanzanian
Political party CCM (1977–)
Spouse(s) Janeth Magufuli
Children

Joseph Magufuli

Jesca Magufuli
Residence Ikulu, Dar es Salaam
Alma mater University of Dar es Salaam
Profession Teacher
Religion Roman Catholicism
Nickname(s) Tinga tinga (The Bulldozer)[1]
Twitter handle MagufuliJP
Military service
Allegiance  United Rep. of Tanzania
Service/branch National Service
Years of service July 1983–June 1984

John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (born 29 October 1959) is the President of Tanzania, in office since 2015.

First elected as a Member of Parliament in 1995, he served in the Cabinet of Tanzania as Deputy Minister of Works from 1995 to 2000, Minister of Works from 2000 to 2006, Minister of Lands and Human Settlement from 2006 to 2008, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries from 2008 to 2010, and as Minister of Works for a second time from 2010 to 2015.[2]

Standing as the candidate of the ruling CCM, he won the October 2015 presidential election and was sworn in on 5 November 2015.

Education

Magufuli started his education at Chato Primary School from 1967 to 1974 and went on to Katoke Seminary in Biharamulo for his secondary education from 1975 to 1977 before relocating to Lake Secondary School in 1977 and completing in 1978. He joined Mkwawa High School for his A levels in 1979 and completed 1981 and that same year he joined Mkwawa College of Education for a Diploma in Education (Sc.) Chemistry, Mathematics and Education.[3]

Magufuli earned his bachelor of science in education degree majoring chemistry and mathematics as teaching subjects from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1988. He also earned his master's and doctorate degrees in chemistry from the University of Dar es Salaam, in 1994 and 2009, respectively.[4]

Early life and political career

Magufuli ventured into elective politics after a short hiatus as a teacher at Sengerema Secondary School between 1982 and 1983. He taught chemistry and mathematics. Later on, he quit his teaching job and was employed by the giant Nyanza Cooperative Union Ltd as an industrial chemist. He remained there from 1989 to 1995, when he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chato. He was appointed as Deputy Minister for Works in his first term as MP. He retained his seat in the 2000 election and was promoted to a full ministerial position under the same docket. After President Jakaya Kikwete took office, he moved Magufuli to the post of Minister of Lands and Human Settlement on 4 January 2006.[5] Subsequently he served again as Minister of Works from 2010 to 2015.

2015 presidential election

On 12 July 2015 Magufuli was nominated as CCM's presidential candidate for the 2015 election, besting Justice Minister and former UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro and African Union Ambassador to the United States Amina Salum Ali for the party's nomination.[6]

Although he faced a strong challenge from opposition candidate and CCM defector Edward Lowassa in the election, held on 25 October 2015, Magufuli was declared the winner by the National Electoral Commission on 29 October; he received 58% of the vote. His running mate, Samia Suluhu, was also declared Vice President-elect. He was sworn in on 5 November 2015.

Presidency

Early days

As he began his term as President, Magufuli made international headlines for his austerity and impatience with corruption and waste. He cancelled Independence Day celebrations, traditionally a time for the government to spend big on a public display of nationalism. In its place he declared the day should be spent on street-cleaning to improve sanitation (in which he himself participated) and arresting the spread of the cholera outbreak. Magufuli also downsized by more than 90 percent the budget for the opulent state dinner that usually marked the opening of parliament and ordered the money saved to be spent on hospital beds and roadworks. He also cancelled foreign travel for officials and banned the purchase of first-class air tickets, although the president, his deputy and the prime minister were exempt. Furthermore, he ordered that government meetings and workshops be held in government buildings rather than expensive hotels and cut a delegation of 50 people set to tour Commonwealth countries to just four. He also publicly issued a warning to the people he would select as ministers that he would not tolerate corrupt and bureaucratic government officials and that the ministers would have to work tirelessly to serve Tanzanians along with him.[7]

On 10 December 2015, more than a month after taking office, President Magufuli finally announced his cabinet, composed of 19 ministries. It had 11 fewer ministries than the previous government; some ministries were merged to save money.[8][9]

2016

On 12 April 2016 Magufuli conducted his first foreign visit to Rwanda where he met his Rwandan counterpart and inaugurated the new bridge and one-stop border post and Rusumo. Magufuli also attended the memorial of 22nd anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.[10]

Personal life

He is married to Janet Magufuli, a primary school teacher and they have three children.[11] He is reportedly close to Nigerian 'Prophet' T.B. Joshua, who was among the high-profile guests in Tanzania during his inauguration. [12]

References

  1. ↑ "A president who looks good but governs impulsively". The Economist. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Member of Parliament CV". Parliament of Tanzania. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Hon. Dr. John P. Magufuli's CV". Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Hon. Dr. John P. Magufuli (MP)". Tanzania Ministry of Works. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Hassan Muhiddin, "JK’s beefed up team", Guardian, January 5, 2006.
  6. ↑ CCM [ccm_tanzania] (12 July 2015). "MKUTANO MKUU WA TAIFA umefanikiwa kumteua mgombea Urais 2015 ambaye ni Mhe.John P. Magufuli #UmojaNiUshindi" [The NATIONAL CONFERENCE has been successfully appointed presidential candidate 2015 which is Mhe.John p. End #UmojaNiUshindi] (Tweet) (in Swahili). Retrieved 12 July 2015 – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ "Tanzania's Magufuli scraps independence day celebration". Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Mohammed, Omar (11 December 2015). "Tanzania's Magufuli finally names his cabinet—and it's almost half the size of his predecessor's". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Felix Lazaro (11 December 2015). "Tanzania's Magufuli appoints lean cabinet". Daily Nation. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Tanzania: Magufuli's Visit to Rwanda to Positively Impact On Dar, Kigali". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  11. ↑ "Profile: John Pombe Joseph Magufuli", The Citizen, October 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "TB Joshua Steals Limelight At Tanzania Inauguration". eNCA (South Africa). 2015-11-05.
Political offices
Preceded by
Jakaya Kikwete		 President of Tanzania
2015–present 		Incumbent
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