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Samia Suluhu Hassan becomes the first woman president in Tanzania to succeed President John Magufuli who died on March 17, 2021.
Born in 1960, she is originally from Makunduchi, an old town on Unguja Island, Zanzibar. Her father was a teacher and her mother a housewife. After graduating from high school, she studied public administration and went on to earn a master’s degree in community economic development.
She began her political career in 2000 when she was elected to the Special Seat of House Representatives of Zanzibar. Special seats are reserved for Tanzanian women leaders under the country’s quota system.
She was then Minister of Gender and Children in the former government of Amani Karume. Karume was president of Zanzibar – an autonomous region of Tanzania – between 2000 and 2010. Mama Samia also served as minister of youth employment and tourism in Karume’s cabinet.
Then in 2010, she was elected MP for Makunduchi, serving in the National Assembly of Tanzania, and appointed Minister of State for Trade Union Affairs by President Jakaya Kikwete.
Samia Suluhu Hassan: a profile.
She rose to the forefront of the national scene when she was elected vice-president of the Constituent Assembly. The assembly was a body of stakeholders brought together in 2014 by President Kikwete to discuss the new constitution proposed by Tanzania. It was headed by President Samuel Sitta, former President of the National Assembly.
The Constituent Assembly, dominated by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, was tasked with discussing and debating Tanzania’s draft constitution. Kikwete launched a constitutional review process in 2010 with the promise to have a new constitution through a popular process.
A new constitution has yet to be adopted, with many in the establishment, including Mama Samia, preferring to maintain the status quo.
Become vice-president
Chama Cha Mapinduzi’s presidential nomination in 2015 was a tight competition. After the counting of the votes of the National Executive Committee of the party, three candidates were selected; John Magufuli and two other women – Asha-Rose Migiro, a Tanzanian who had been Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, and Amina Salum Ali – a Zanzibari who had been the Permanent Representative of the African Union to the United States.
Ultimately, John Magufuli was named the compromise candidate. He was seen as a candidate capable of walking the middle line of a party divided by competing interests.
Since there were two women finalists during the nomination process, it was deemed appropriate for Magufuli to nominate a woman as vice president at a time when the country was already making great strides towards gender inclusion. Five years earlier, in 2010, Anna Makinda had broken down barriers by becoming the first woman president of the National Assembly.
Magufuli went ahead and appointed Samia Suluhu Hassan as his running mate. With Magufuli’s victory in the 2015 general election, Mama Samia became the first female vice president.
As Vice-President, Mama Samia served as the President’s Principal Assistant. Its role should have been largely ceremonial. But when she took office, she represented Magufuli at many international meetings and engagements. These included the summits of the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community.
It was because the late president rarely traveled abroad. As a result, she has received immense international visibility, a factor that could influence the way she rules in the future. An expected impact of this exhibition will be to redress the international isolation that Tanzania experienced under the Magufuli administration.
A reconciling figure
In November 2017, Mama Samia visited opposition leader Tundu Lissu at the Nairobi hospital. Lissu had just survived an assassination attempt.
She was the most senior government official who visited her, which is worth mentioning as Lissu had blamed the government for the attack on her life.
Mama Samia conveyed greetings from Magufuli. Her visit was symbolic because it sent a message of goodwill. It was an attempt to bridge the growing antagonism between government and opposition. Her frankness and grace as she bent down to speak to Lissu on her hospital bed reminded Tanzanians of the value of humanity and the true spirit of Tanzanian camaraderie.
She has been described as compassionate, rational, and calm – attributes that are far removed from her former boss.
Healing and unity
In the six years that Magufuli was president, the country has become very polarized and divided.
Read more: Tanzania’s elections leave a highly polarized society with an uncertain future
His handling of the opposition and the COVID-19 pandemic has only sowed discord among the Tanzanian people. And under Magufuli, Tanzania has become increasingly isolated internationally.
Mama Samia’s international exhibition could provide her with the kind of worldview needed to put Tanzania back on the diplomatic map. In her speech after being sworn in as president on March 19, 2021, she spoke of the need to bury differences and show solidarity as a nation.
Mama Samia’s candor and rationality could be vital in moving the country forward. It should act quickly to change the country’s position on COVID-19 and reach out to the opposition and other stakeholders to build an inclusive national dialogue.
Nicodemus Minde does not work, consult, own stock or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has not disclosed any relevant affiliation beyond his academic appointment.
By Nicodemus Minde, PhD Fellow, United States International University
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