Magufuli's bold actions rattle EAC, benefit Tanzania

President John Magufuli inspecting construction work at the launch of phase one of the SGR project in Dar es Salaam. PHOTO FILE | NMG

When John Pombe Magufuli took over the reins as president of Tanzania in November 2015, the East African Community was already pulling in two opposite directions.

Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda were already coalescing around the “Coalition of the Willing,” as it came to be known — to accelerate the regional integration agenda, from functional issues like trade and tourism to more ideological ones like political federation.