Tanzania appoints Samia Hassan Africa’s only female political head of state 

Samia Suluhu Hassan, inspects a military parade following her swearing in

Credit: AFP via Getty Images

Tanzanian politician Samia Suluhu Hassan became the country’s first female president on Friday, when she was sworn in following the sudden death of her predecessor, autocrat and Covid-denier John Magufuli.

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, then vice-president Mrs Hassan announced his death from heart complications at a Dar Es Salaam hospital, in an apparent denial of rumours the president had been infected by Covid-19 and had been flown abroad for treatment.

"This is the time to stand together and get connected. It’s time to bury our differences, show love to one another and look forward with confidence," she said in Swahili at the ceremony.

"It is not the time to point fingers at each other but to hold hands and move forward to build the new Tanzania that President Magufuli aspired to."

When the Covid pandemic hit last year, Magufuli became one of the world’s most high-profile Covid-19 sceptics. His government discouraged people from wearing masks in public and instead claimed that Covid-19 could be cured by steam inhalation and herbal remedies. It has not declared any Covid cases since May 2020. 

Coronavirus Tanzania Spotlight Chart — Cases default

Now Tanzanians and officials in neighbouring countries and across the world will watch with interest how the new president handles the pandemic.

Signalling she may follow in Magufuli’s footsteps in downplaying the threat of coronavirus, she and other government officials joined the swearing in ceremony at State House in Dar Es Salaam without wearing masks or taking social distancing measures.

Mrs Hassan – affectionately known as Mama Samia – was born in 1960 in the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar. She went to school in the predominantly Muslim archipelago at a time when few girls in Tanzania had access to an education.

After earning several degrees in economics, including from the University of Manchester, she started her long government career as a clerk at the ministry of planning and development.

She was then elected to public office in 2000 and became a member of Zanzibar’s house of representatives. She won a national parliamentary seat in Makunduchi in 2010 with more than 80 per cent of the vote.

She took up her first ministerial job in 2014 when then-president Jakaya Kikwete made her minister for union affairs. That same year, the politician became vice chairperson of the constitutional assembly, playing a key role in drafting the country’s new constitution.

"I may look polite, and do not shout when speaking, but the most important thing is that everyone understands what I say and things get done as I say," Mrs Hassan said in a speech last year.

National Assembly member January Makamba, who is a fellow politician from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, has said Ms Hassan is "the most underrated politician in Tanzania," according to the BBC.

"I have observed at close quarters her work ethic, decision-making and temperament. She is a very capable leader."

On Friday, she also became the only current female political leader in Africa. Ethiopia’s president, Sahle-Work Zewde, serves a largely ceremonial role. Her daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, serves in the Zanzibar House of Representatives.

The former vice president is expected to rule the country until the end of Magufuli’s elected term in 2025.