‘President Magufuli has started to sweep away the country’s reputation for endemic corruption and poor public service’ Muvunyi (2016). He opines that Dr. Magufuli left no doubt about his aims immediately after he was sworn in. “I’m telling government officers
who are lazy and negligent to be prepared. They were tolerated for a long time. This is the end.” Later, he matched his words with actions, slashing the number of cabinet posts from 30 to 19 by merging ministries.
Recently, President Magufuli made his first foreign visit to Rwanda. According to Muvunyi (2016), he drove all the way to Rwanda, avoiding flight costs. In Rwanda, the country’s president, Paul Kagame, commended Magufuli’s efforts in cutting unnecessary costs and fighting corruption in Tanzania. “Your consistent message on fighting corruption is very refreshing. You have a good and reliable partner in Rwanda,” President Kagame told President Magufuli (Muvunyi, 2016).
Unlike some of the African heads of state, President Magufuli has translated his intentions into actions. He has actually acted on his words. President Magufuli has suspended corrupt officials and reduced public expenditure. Besides cutting costs and taking administrative action against incompetent and corrupt public servants, some 596 cases related to corruption are currently before the courts (Muvunyi, 2016).
Indeed, President Magufuli’s core message to his followers has centred on the need to for leaders to serve the people, anti-corruption, a lean and efficient government, leadership responsibility, unity, progress and the importance of the hard-work ethic, in deed and word.
President Magufuli- The Servant Leader
The servant-leadership aspect of his leadership style is apparent. He consistently reminds Tanzanians that as a leader, he is there to serve them, work together with them to make Tanzania a great country. President Magufuli’s emphasis on the need for leaders to serve their people resonates with the broader rubric of servant leadership literature.
According to Sipe and Frick (2009, p.1), “The Servant-Leader is servant first, and this begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” Hence, the first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited.
President Magufuli’s actions are consistent with this conceptualization of the servant leader. His decision to cancel Independence Celebrations and lead the nation in a public health clean-up exercise reflects the core of his message to his followers that leaders are there to serve the people.
In the same vein, Sipe and Frick (2009) identify the seven pillars of servant leadership, namely that, a Servant-Leader is a person of character; who puts people first; who is a skilled communicator; who is a compassionate collaborator; who has foresight; who is a systems thinker; and who leads with moral authority. In essence, servant leaders lead by serving. These servant-leadership values are reflected in President Magufuli’s actions and messages to his followers.
Keith (2015) argues that servant leadership is ethical, practical, and meaningful. President Magufuli’s actions and messages have been consistent with this view.
Thus, Sinek (2011) argues that the true hallmark of great leaders is their ability to inspire their followers to take action and increase their levels of engagement and participation towards a stated vision and goal. President Magufuli’s message to his followers has consistently focused on unity, collaboration, fighting corruption, the need for leaders to serve the people, the importance of upholding law and order as well as a lean, efficient government…….to be continued
