Magufuli: Five years of development

Five years ago in 2015, Tanzania voted in a new president, Dr. John Magufuli. One of his very first moves was to stop the country’s annual Independence Day celebrations and instead the millions that would otherwise go into the traditional parade were directed to infrastructure—the congested New Bagamoyo Road expansion.  That year, to celebrate Independence Day, Tanzania held a national cleanup campaign. The President and his deputy, Vice President Honourable Samia Suluhu led the country in cleaning the environment.  I do not mean they signed some environment pollution documents; the president in person walked out of the State House and collected trash, not in his backyard, no, but all the way down to the filth-piled fish market, several meters from the State House.  If anything, the cleanup was symbolic of what was to come under his presidency. Little did the aristocrats, corrupt officials and unscrupulous business-owners know that that was a sign of the future to come – a total cleanup of the country.  Let us go back to the 2015 election campaign.  What did Magufuli promise the country; what did the country elect him to do and five years later, has he done it?  Also read: Tanzania's measures to restart economy 2015 Pledges in a nutshell  Free education: President Magufuli pledged that under his rule, Tanzanian children will go to school free of