John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (born 29 October 1959) is the President of Tanzania, in office since 2015.
First elected as a Member of Parliament in 1995, he served in the Cabinet of Tanzania as
Deputy Minister of Works from 1995 to 2000, Minister of Works from 2000
to 2006, Minister of Lands and Human Settlement from 2006 to 2008,
Minister of Livestock and Fisheries from 2008 to 2010, and as Minister
of Works for a second time from 2010 to 2015.[2]
Standing as the candidate of the ruling CCM, he won the October 2015 presidential election and was sworn inon 5 November 2015.
| 5th President of Tanzania | |
|---|---|
| Assumed office 5 November 2015 | |
| Vice President | Samia Suluhu |
| Prime Minister | Kassim Majaliwa |
| Preceded by | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Minister of Works | |
| In office 28 November 2010 – 5 November 2015 | |
| President | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Preceded by | Shukuru Kawambwa |
| In office November 2000 – 21 December 2005 | |
| President | Benjamin Mkapa |
| Succeeded by | Basil Mramba |
| Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Development | |
| In office 13 February 2008 – 6 November 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony Diallo |
| Succeeded by | David Mathayo David |
| Minister of Lands and Human Settlements | |
| In office 6 January 2006 – 13 February 2008 | |
| President | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Succeeded by | John Chiligati |
| Member of Parliament for Biharamulo East and Chato | |
| In office November 1995 – July 2015 | |
| Succeeded by | Kalemani Medard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 October 1959 Chato, Geita, Tanganyika |
| Nationality | Tanzanian |
| Political party | CCM (1977–) |
| Spouse(s) | Janeth Magufuli |
| Residence | Ikulu, Dar es Salaam |
| Alma mater | University of Dar es Salaam |
| Profession | Teacher |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Nickname(s) | Tinga tinga (The Bulldozer)[1] |
| Twitter handle | MagufuliJP |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Rep. of Tanzania |
| Service/branch | National Service |
| Years of service | July 1983–June 1984 |
| 5th President of Tanzania | |
|---|---|
| Assumed office 5 November 2015 | |
| Vice President | Samia Suluhu |
| Prime Minister | Kassim Majaliwa |
| Preceded by | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Minister of Works | |
| In office 28 November 2010 – 5 November 2015 | |
| President | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Preceded by | Shukuru Kawambwa |
| In office November 2000 – 21 December 2005 | |
| President | Benjamin Mkapa |
| Succeeded by | Basil Mramba |
| Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Development | |
| In office 13 February 2008 – 6 November 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony Diallo |
| Succeeded by | David Mathayo David |
| Minister of Lands and Human Settlements | |
| In office 6 January 2006 – 13 February 2008 | |
| President | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Succeeded by | John Chiligati |
| Member of Parliament for Biharamulo East and Chato | |
| In office November 1995 – July 2015 | |
| Succeeded by | Kalemani Medard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 October 1959 Chato, Geita, Tanganyika |
| Nationality | Tanzanian |
| Political party | CCM (1977–) |
| Spouse(s) | Janeth Magufuli |
| Residence | Ikulu, Dar es Salaam |
| Alma mater | University of Dar es Salaam |
| Profession | Teacher |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Nickname(s) | Tinga tinga (The Bulldozer)[1] |
| Twitter handle | MagufuliJP |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Rep. of Tanzania |
| Service/branch | National Service |
| Years of service | |
| July 1983–June 1984 | Education[edit]
Magufuli started his education at Chato Primary School from 1967 to 1974
and went on to Katoke Seminary in Biharamulo for his secondary
education from 1975 to 1977 before relocating to Lake Secondary School
in 1977 and completing in 1978. He joined Mkwawa High School for his A
levels in 1979 and completed 1981 and that same year he joined Mkwawa
College of Education for a Diploma in Education (Sc.) Chemistry,
Mathematics and Education.[3]
Magufuli earned his bachelor of science in education degree majoring chemistry and mathematics as teaching subjects from the University of Dar es Salaam in
1988. He also earned his master's and doctorate degrees in chemistry
from the University of Dar es Salaam, in 1994 and 2009, respectively.[4]
Early life and political career[edit]
Magufuli ventured into elective politics after a short hiatus as a
teacher at Sengerema Secondary School between 1982 and 1983. He taught
chemistry and mathematics. Later on, he quit his teaching job and was
employed by the giant Nyanza Cooperative Union Ltd as an industrial
chemist. He remained there from 1989 to 1995, when was elected as Member
of Parliament (MP) for Chato. He was appointed as Deputy Minister for
Works in his first term as MP. He retained his seat in the 2000 election
and was promoted to a full ministerial position under the same docket.
After President Jakaya Kikwete took office, he moved Magufuli to the post of Minister of Lands and Human Settlement on 4 January 2006.[5] Subsequently he served again as Minister of Works from 2010 to 2015.
2015 presidential election[edit]
On 12 July 2015 Magufuli was nominated as CCM's presidential candidate for the 2015 election, besting Justice Minister and former UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro and African Union Ambassador to the United States Amina Salum Ali for the party's nomination.[6]
Although he faced a strong challenge from opposition candidate and CCM defector Edward Lowassa in
the election, held on 25 October 2015, Magufuli was declared the winner
by the National Electoral Commission on 29 October; he received 58% of
the vote. His running mate, Samia Suluhu, was also declared Vice President-elect. He was sworn in on 5 November 2015.
Presidency[edit]Early days[edit]
As he began his term as President, Magufuli displayed unusual zeal for
austerity and impatience with corruption and waste. He cancelled
Independence Day celebrations, traditionally a time for the government
to spend big on a public display of nationalism. Instead the time is to
be spent on street-cleaning to improve sanitation and arrest the spread
of a cholera outbreak.
Magufuli also downsized by more than 90 percent the budget for the
opulent state dinner that usually marks the opening of parliament and
ordered the money saved to be spent on hospital beds and roadworks. He
also cancelled foreign travel for officials and banned the purchase of
first-class air tickets, although the president, his deputy and the
prime minister were exempt. Furthermore, he ordered that government
meetings and workshops be held in government buildings rather than
expensive hotels and cut a bloated delegation of 50 people set to tour
Commonwealth countries to just four. He also publicly issued a serious
warning to the people he will select as ministers that he would not
tolerate corrupt and bureaucratic government officials and that the
ministers would have to work tirelessly to serve Tanzanians along with
him.[7]
On 10 December 2015, more than a month after taking office, President Magufuli finally announced his cabinet, composed of 19 ministries. It had 11 fewer ministries than the previous government; some ministries were merged to save money.[8][9]
2016[edit]
On 12 April 2016 Magufuli conducted his first foreign visit to Rwanda where he met his Rwandan counterpart and inaugurated the new bridge and one-stop border post and Rusumo. Magufuli also attended the memorial of 22nd anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.[10]
Personal life[edit]
He is married to Janet Magufuli, a primary school teacher and they have three children.[11]
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