November 8, 2017
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has dismissed two public officials after scolding one of them on live TV.
Magufuli had sought for the budgets of the municipal directors for road construction in their districts with none of them being able to recall on the spot. This infuriated the President who dismissed them immediately with no reasons stated.
Magufuli’s latest high-handed action has garnered mixed reactions from Tanzania with many praising his no-nonsense style while a section of the Tanzanian population feel he’s too authoritarian.
He has been nicknamed “the bulldozer” by the Tanzanian media with his autocratic governance but result-oriented governance.
The president was attending a ceremony in the northern town of Bukoba when the incident happened on Monday, according to the BBC.
A 30-second clip of the exchange – all in Swahili – shows him asking Mwantum Kitwana Dau to state how much money had been set aside for a road fund.
When she found it difficult to remember, the president scolded her. According to one account, Ms Dau said that she oversees many departments and could not immediately recall the exact budget allocated for road projects.
Mr Magufuli replied: “You can’t talk to me like that.”
In his bid to get rid of corruption in the East African nation, the president has been seen making spot visits at government offices and insulting officials who he believes are not doing their work.
When he came to office two years ago, he promised to stamp out corruption.
In April Mr Magufuli dismissed around 10,000 civil servants for having fake education certificates.
Since he became the Tanzanian President, he has removed thousands of so-called ghost workers from its public sector payroll.
John Magufuli’s strict policies and stringent rules have been dubbed as ways of the “Magufulization” of Tanzania.
BBC