We know our heroes!

Ranga Mataire

Writing BLack

At this final hour, in a place called Tanzania, Africa came to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes, extinguished now and gone from us forever.

His name is John Joseph Pombe Magufuli, who served as President of Tanzania from November 5, 2015, till his death on March 17, 2021.

As usual, a historical erasure is in motion to disfigure President Magufuli’s uncompromising pro-African record. Many Western media outlets are strenuously trying to paint a picture of a conflicted and deluded President. But Africans have no illusion about what the man stood for and what he symbolised.

Tanzania is where he worked and struggled and fought, but his home was much bigger than his country. He was an uncompromisingly Pan-African and simply refused to play ball in acquiescing to Western dictates. His incorruptible stance intimidated many and attracted many enemies, but he remained steadfast in defending his homeland and in pushing for pro-majority policies.

It is not in the memory of men that this beleaguered, unfortunate but nonetheless proud African continent found such a braver, more gallant champion than President Magufuli who even in death is unconquered still.

We note those who consider themselves their duty to arrogate to us who our heroes are. Just like in the case of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X, when the later was painted as a delusional demagogue who advocated for violence, we note with concern that there are those who would want to tell us to revile President Magufuli and encourage us to flee from this memory and would want to write him out of history.

We of Africa find honour in valorising this man who is vilified in the West where he is depicted as controversial. We have refused and continue to refuse to turn away from this man they want to depict as a non-conformist.

They can say all they want, but we will always see President Magufuli as one who tried to chart a new trajectory for his country, which was to be an example to Africa.

Here was a son of a peasant farmer, who knew nothing, but humility. Here was a son of ordinary rural parents who rose to become his country’s President.

His understanding of the ordinary man’s toils was first-hand. Talking about his upbringing during his campaign in 2015, President Magufuli said: “Our home was grass-thatched, and like many boys I was assigned to herd cattle, as well as selling milk and fish to support my family. I know what it means to be people. I will strive to improve people’s welfare.”

If there is anything that the Empire detests, it is any stance meant to empower the majority, it is against any egalitarian sentiments for it is wired for profit and exploitation of the majority by a few, something euphemistically referred to as capitalism.

It is not surprising that President Magufuli was not a favourite of the West for he advocated for exploitation of local resources by locals for the development of local industries for the benefit of first and foremost his own people. His debt was first and foremost to Tanzanians and wanted his people to “believe that (they had) a real president, a rock,” who cannot be threatened. President Magufuli was not an ambivalent man. He had strong convictions that he was not afraid to pursue and implement for the benefit of Tanzanians.

Soon after his election in 2015, President Magufuli renegotiated and forced substantive compromises with multinational corporations to give Tanzania a better deal on mineral exploration within its borders. His uncompromising stance won him staunch following domestically and in the region, setting off prodigious praise and inspiring the Twitter hashtag #WhatWouldMagufuliDo?

Those who want to vilify him would not want us to remember for his significant achievements in infrastructure. In January 2021, the Tanzanian government awarded the Chinese a contract for the construction of a 341km standard-gauge railway from Mwanza on Lake Victoria to the southern town of Isaka.

Before that, President Magufuli had overseen the construction of a mass public bus transport system in the country’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam. It was also under his watch that Tanzania’s lives in general improved and the economy was boosted by massive investments in rural electrification.

Yes, he had his own views about the coronavirus, but it is disingenuous to condense his legacy merely because of his contrarian stance. President Magufuli did more to Africa and his country that the West would want to conveniently whitewash.

While others prevaricated, President Magufuli unequivocally denounced sanctions on Zimbabwe. As the new chair of SADC in August 2019, President Magufuli said the region continued to suffer from the contagion effect of sanctions on Zimbabwe.

Much to the chagrin of those who want to play down the impact of sanctions, President Magufuli said: “As we are all aware, this brotherly and sisterly country has been on sanctions for a long time. These sanctions have not only affected the people of Zimbabwe and their Government but our entire region. It is like a human body: when you chop one of its parts, it affects the whole body.

“Therefore, I would like to seize this opportunity to urge the international community to life up sanctions it imposed on Zimbabwe. This brotherly country, after all, has now opened a new chapter and it is ready to engage with the rest of the world. It is, therefore, I believe, in the interest of all parties concerned to see these sanctions removed.

“In this respect, I wish also to urge all Sadc member states to continue to speak with one voice on the issue of Zimbabwe.”

And in words that sound prophetic, President Magufuli told Tanzanians that one day they will remember him “not for the bad things, but for the good deeds . . . because I have sacrificed my life for the poor in Tanzania”.

Yes, as his mortal remains are consigned to earth, the common mother of all, we are very secure in the knowledge that what is to be placed in the ground is no more now a being, but a seed, which after the winter of discontent, will come forth to meet us. And we will know Cde Magufuli then for what he was and is, our own black empowerment champion, who didn’t hesitate to be vilified because he loved us so.

Pumzika kwa amani na uhuru. Kwaheri our liberator!