John Pombe Joseph Magufuli

John Pombe Joseph Magufuli was born in Chato on Lake Victoria and earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Dar es Salaam. First elected to parliament in 1995 with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), he served as Minister of Works, earning the moniker "The Bulldozer" for his relentless drive in building thousands of kilometers of paved roads across Tanzania on schedule.

Elected president in 2015, Magufuli electrified the African continent by purging thousands of "ghost workers" from civil service rolls, cutting opulent government junkets, slashing presidential inauguration budgets to buy hospital beds, and negotiating higher state royalties from foreign mining corporations. He built the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station and the Standard Gauge Railway. However, his administration drew sharp international criticism for curtailing press freedom and denying the existence of COVID-19 in Tanzania prior to his death in office.