Research: Magufuli Is the One African President Who Lives The Campaign Promises

Research article based on Political Communication Theory*

By Dr. Darius Mukiza*

It is very rare for Tanzanian journalists to analyse and write stories from political advertisements used by winning Presidents after elections. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is the lack of Professional journalists in the field of Political Communication.

In this article, I will not concentrate on this scarcity of professional journalists in this field of political communication but the concentration will base on how the achievements of President John Magufuli are reflected in Political Advertisements used by the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi ( CCM) to market him during the 2015 General Elections.     

It is better to define political advertisements to make readers understand and consume better the content of this article. Political advertisement can be said to be  “an ideological activity. It is a system of representation that uses identity types, power structures, forms of practices and a nexus of (re)production and distribution institution.”

This implies that journalists are supposed to recognise a semiotics of texts adopted as proposed by Charles Sanders Peirce in his approach to extend the results from political advertisements to write news reports and articles as well.

Journalists are supposed to do a ‘Theming’ process to allow ‘readers of materials to operate programmatically and engage in preferred systems of action that is, voting for the particular party/candidate. This is because the content directs/persuades potential voters to vote in a particular way.

After enlightening readers on the meaning of political advertisements, it is now time to reflect and ‘theme’ on 2015 CCM Presidential political advertisements. The major focus is on how the then Presidential candidate Magufuli is seriously implementing the themes that were marketing him to voters during the 2015 general Elections.

The reflection bases only on tangible billboard advertisements.  After reading all the billboards, I discovered that CCM used about four themes to market President Magufuli. These were ‘Mchapa Kazi’(Hard working), Muadilifu ( righteous), Chaguo la Watu (The people’s Choice) and Hapa Kazi Tu ( Hard Work). Based on content analysis of his work, I will try to express how President Magufuli has lived these four themes in the period of three years.      

It is the fact that President Magufuli is the hard worker. This is evidenced by the works he has done for the period of three years. I will show some of these works as the word count limits my expression. In the period of three years, President Magufuli has worked hard to revive the national airline carrier (ATCL). Seven (7) new planes have been bought so far. Among these, four planes have been received and are all operating within and plans for outside the country are under way.

Credible sources explain that President Magufuli has prioritised investment in Air Tanzania to revive the loss-making carrier and boost the vital tourism sector, a top foreign exchange earner. Among these are two Airbus 220-300 jets, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and two new bombardiers.

The education sector is another area that shows how President Magufuli is fighting against illiteracy to ensure each Tanzanian is receiving both the primary and secondary freely.  For example, since 2016 the government started implementing free secondary education to all Tanzania. This was and is the history that had never been made in this country. Credible sources state that the government allocates more than US$ 62 million in the budget to cater the purpose.

site of the Stiglers Gorge Project

Infrastructure in terms of roads, bridges and Railway is another area where President Magufuli has done wonders. Examples of these are the ongoing Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which is under construction.

SGR will link the country to the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and Uganda, and through these two, to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The new Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is intended to replace the old, inefficient metre-gauge railway system.

SGR on the course

In terms of roads construction, President Magufuli continues to link all the parts in the country and decreasing traffic jams in the cities. For example, last week the President laid the foundation stone for the construction of 19.2km eight-lane duo in Dar es Salaam (Mbezi – Kibamba to decrease the jam in the city. There are so many examples of constructed roads and bridges but the space is not enough to explain them.

The signing of the a three-billion-US dollar landmark deal with an Egyptian company for the construction of the Stiegler's Gorge hydroelectric project in a game reserve is another impossible project that President Magufuli has worked hard to implement.

It was proposed by the country’s Father of the Nation (Mwalimu Julius Nyerere) but it was not implemented until recently when the deal was inked between two governments (Tanzania and Egypt). The project will generate 2,115 megawatts which is more than all electricity generated from all other sources in Tanzania which currently stood at 1,560 megawatts.

President Magufuli is the righteous person. This has been evidenced through the struggles he is making to curb corruption in the country. Since assuming office in November 2015, Magufuli has been rebuilding lost trust with Western donors by firing public officials deemed to be incompetent and corrupt.

For example, in 2016 Magufuli fired six senior officials in the Tanzania Revenue Authority, including Commissioner General Rashid Bade. Also suspended was the Director General of the Tanzania Ports Authority, Ephraim Mgawe, over a scandal involving the non-payment of $40 million (35.1 million euros) in import taxes. Magufuli also relieved of his duties, Dr. Edward Hoseah, the long-serving Director General of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), due to the slow pace of the fight against graft.

Sources reveal that the African Union estimates that $50 billion is lost to corruption and other financial crimes across Africa each year. Many heads of state on the continent have vowed to eradicate corruption from their countries. Legislation to punish the vice has been drafted and anti-corruption authorities have been formed. However, on the ground, little seems to have changed.

The Rwandan researcher and political commentator Christophe Kayumba when asked to comment on President Magufuli on corruption in 2016 told DW that, unlike other African heads of state, Magufuli has translated his intentions into actions. "Magufuli has actually acted on his words. He has suspended corrupt officials and reduced public expenditure," Kayumba said.

President Magufuli, the Peoples’ Choice thematic frame is and continues to perform better in all the sectors. This does not mean there are no challenges, but, I measure the positives which are more than the negatives. This is translated by the percentage of votes he got during the 2015 Presidential Elections. Magufuli was declared the winner by the National Electoral Commission on 29 October; after receiving 58% of the votes.

This implies that President Magufuli was and continues to be the People’s choice that is why he is fulfilling the promises he made to them.

Next time when word counts allows, I will write more on how President Magufuli implements the promises made through political billboard advertisements during the 2015 General Elections.   

*The author is a PhD researcher and lecturer in mass communication specializing on political communication, campaign advertising and media practice.