African leaders are good in showmanship. But they are embarrassingly short on policy implementation. They eagerly carry out international visits and summits, posing for the camera while beaming with smiles, and signing piles of Memoranda of Understanding, MOU. Unfortunately, that is not the yard stick to measure. If it were, then the visit of Tanzanian President, John Magufuli, to Uganda for two days last month would be considered a total success.
The brotherly affection between the 58-year old Magufuli and his host, 73-year old Yoweri Museveni, was encouraging to observe. It was even more significant following years of less-enthusiastic leadership on regional issues from Tanzania under President Magufuli’s predecessor, Jakaya Kikwete.
The result has been an adverse trade balance for Uganda. For instance, in 2017 Uganda has so far imported 191 million tons of goods from Tanzania valued at Shs617 billion. On the other hand Tanzania has imported only 52 million tons of goods valued at Shs251 billion.
President Magufuli’s visit coincided exactly with the end of his second year in office. He was sworn in on November 05, 2015. His host, President Yoweri Museveni, has meanwhile been president in office for 31years – since 1986. So, as President Magufuli enthusiastically strolled from one agreement signing to another ground-breaking ceremony with the energy of a new manager, his host’s rather lethargic gait of a long-service leader who has seen this before was unmistakable. The contrast has since led some pundits to claim that the activity during the visit was a mere ritual and political posturing for one leader and serious business for the other.
The elected member of the 3rd East African Legislative Assembly, EALA, Fred Mbidde, belongs to the skeptical crowd. “National leaders visit each other and posture as being serious but end up not implementing what they discuss,” he told reporters in Kampala.
To him Mr. Magufuli’s visit to Uganda was just like any other activity aimed at boosting bi-lateral relationships of the two Presidents “that won’t yield much results”. But many say something tangible could be happening in the East African region coming from Tanzania under President Magufuli.
Top officials of the renowned research fellow and commentator on trade and regional integration issues from the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) at Makerere University in Kampala have rated the visit highly. They say that Mr. Magufuli’s visit presents an opportunity for Uganda and the EAC integration process.
They argued, however, that President Magufuli’s visit also “provides space for the two presidents to remind themselves about unfulfilled promises and find ways of delivering on them. Mr. Magufuli is a serious leader and his visit means he supports the EAC integration process”.
The view of the Research Center tallies well with the tabloid that referred to the summit thus, “We should not read the initiatives being launched by the Heads of State as rituals. The Presidents are serious; they want to do business”. Their position seems to have sidelined the pessimistic submissions.
