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Samia Suluhu Hassan

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Samia Suluhu Hassan
Samia Suluhu Hassan in May 2017.jpg
6th President of Tanzania
Assumed office
19 March 2021
Prime MinisterKassim Majaliwa
Vice PresidentPhilip Mpango
Preceded byJohn Magufuli
10th Vice-President of Tanzania
In office
5 November 2015 – 19 March 2021
PresidentJohn Magufuli
Preceded byMohamed Gharib Bilal
Succeeded byPhilip Mpango
Minister of State for Union Affairs in the Vice President's Office
In office
29 November 2010 – 5 November 2015
PresidentJakaya Kikwete
Preceded byMuhammed Seif Khatib
Succeeded byJanuary Makamba
Member of Parliament
for Makunduchi
In office
November 2010 – July 2015
Succeeded byAmeir Timbe
Minister of Tourism, Trade and Investment
In office
2005–2010
PresidentAmani Karume
Preceded byMussa Silima
Succeeded bySaid Ali Mbarouk
Personal details
Born (1960-01-27) 27 January 1960 (age 61)
Makunduchi, Zanzibar (now Tanzania)
Political partyChama Cha Mapinduzi
Spouse(s)
Hafidh Ameir
​
(m. 1978)​
Children4
EducationMzumbe University (AdvDip)
University of Manchester (PGDip)
Open University of Tanzania (MSc)
Websiteofficial website

Samia Suluhu Hassan[a] (born 27 January 1960) is a Tanzanian politician who is serving as the sixth and current president of Tanzania. She is a member of the ruling social-democrat Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. Suluhu is the third female head of government of an East African Community (EAC) country, after Sylvie Kinigi in Burundi and Agathe Uwilingiyimana in Rwanda, and is also the first female president of Tanzania. She took office on 19 March 2021 after the death of President John Magufuli on 17 March 2021.

A native of Zanzibar,[1] Suluhu served as a minister in the semi-autonomous region during the administration of President Amani Karume. She served as the Member of Parliament for the Makunduchi constituency from 2010 to 2015 and was the Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office for Union Affairs from 2010 to 2015. In 2014, she was elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with the drafting of the country's new constitution.

Suluhu became Tanzania's first female vice-president following the 2015 general election, after being elected on the CCM ticket with President Magufuli. Suluhu and Magufuli were re-elected to a second term in 2020. She briefly served as the second female interim Head of State in the EAC – 27 years after Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi, spanning a period around the end of the year 1993.

Early life

Suluhu was born on 27 January 1960 in Makunduchi, an old town on Unguja island, in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.[2]

She completed her secondary education in 1977 and began working. Subsequently, she pursued a number of short-courses on a part-time basis. In 1986, she graduated from the Institute of Development Management (present-day Mzumbe University) with an advanced diploma in public administration.[3]

Between 1992 and 1994, she attended the University of Manchester and earned a postgraduate diploma in economics.[4] In 2015, she obtained her MSc in Community Economic Development via a joint-programme between the Open University of Tanzania and the Southern New Hampshire University.[3]

Career

After her secondary school education, she was employed by the Ministry of Planning and Development as a clerk. Upon graduation with her public administration degree, she was employed on a project funded by the World Food Programme.[3]

Political career

In 2000, she decided to run for public office. She was elected as a special seat member to the Zanzibar House of Representatives[5] and was appointed a minister by President Amani Karume. She was the only high-ranking woman minister in the cabinet and was "looked down on" by her male colleagues because she was female.[4] She was re-elected in 2005 and was re-appointed as a minister in another portfolio.[6]

In 2010, she sought election to the National Assembly, standing in the parliamentary constituency of Makunduchi and winning by more than 80%.[6] President Jakaya Kikwete appointed her as the Minister of State for Union Affairs.[7] In 2014, she was elected as the Vice Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the country's new constitution.[8]

In July 2015, CCM's presidential nominee John Magufuli chose her as his running mate for the 2015 election,[9] making her the first female running mate in the party's history.[10] On 5 November 2015 she subsequently became the first female vice-president in the history of the country upon Magufuli's victory in the election.[11] Both Magufuli and Suluhu were re-elected for a second five-year term on 28 October 2020.[citation needed]

On 17 March 2021, Suluhu announced that Magufuli had died after a long illness; Magufuli had not been seen in public since late February. She was sworn in as his successor on 19 March 2021, and will serve the balance of Magufuli's second five-year term.[12] The delay in the start of her term came because the Constitution of Tanzania explicitly requires the vice-president to take the presidential oath before ascending to the presidency;[13] opposition leaders had expressed concern about a possible "vacuum" when 18 March passed without Suluhu being sworn in.[14] Upon her swearing-in, Suluhu became Tanzania's first female president.[15] She is also the second Zanzibari to hold the post,[16] and the third Muslim after Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Jakaya Kikwete.[17] She also became one of two serving female heads of state in Africa, alongside Ethiopia's Sahle-Work Zewde.[18] Under the Constitution, since she took office with more than three years remaining in Magufuli's term, if she completes this term she will only be eligible for one full term in her own right should she decide to stand at the next election.[13][clarification needed]

Suluhu's administration initiated efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania, in stark contrast to the skepticism of the virus under Magufuli's tenure. Mandatory 14-day quarantines for travellers entering Tanzania from countries housing newly risen variants of SARS-CoV-2 were imposed. Visitors were recommended to wear face masks, sanitize themselves, and practice social distancing.[19] Suluhu permitted embassies and other international organizations to import vaccines into the country to vaccinate foreign nationals for their Tanzanian day-to-day work, aided by the Ministry of Health.[20]

Personal life

In 1978, Suluhu married Hafidh Ameir, an agricultural officer who, by 2014, had retired. They have four children.[4] Her daughter Wanu Hafidh Ameir (born 1982), the couple's second child, is a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives.[21][22] On 28 July 2021, COVID-19 vaccination campaign started under her charge in Tanzania, with her receiving the first dose of the vaccine and urging all Tanzanians to get their jabs saying that the country "is not an island".[23]

Notes

  1. ^ This surname is the double-barrelled Suluhu Hassan, but she is known by the surname Suluhu.

References

  1. ^ Mules, Ineke (19 March 2021). "Samia Suluhu Hassan: Who Is Tanzania's New President?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Samia Suluhu Hassan—Tanzania's new president". BBC News. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Member of Parliament CV". Parliament of Tanzania. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Mwakyusa, Alvar (18 September 2014). "Samia Suluhu Hassan: A tough journey from activism to politics". Daily News. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  5. ^ Minde, Nicodemus. "Tanzania's Samia Hassan has the chance to heal a polarised nation". The Conversation. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Mwakyusa, Alvar (18 September 2014). "Tanzania: Samia Suluhu Hassan – a Tough Journey From Activism to Politics". AllAfrica. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Tanzania: History Made as Samia Picked Running Mate". AllAfrica. 13 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  8. ^ Mwakyusa, Alvar (14 March 2014). "Tanzania: Union 'Stalwart' Samia Is CA Vice-Chairperson". AllAfrica. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  9. ^ CCM [@ccm_tanzania] (12 July 2015). "Mgombea mwenza Urais 2015 wa Mhe. John Pombe Magufuli ni.." (Tweet) (in Swahili). Retrieved 12 July 2015 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ Mohammed, Omar (12 July 2015). "Tanzania's ruling party nominates John Magufuli as presidential candidate". Quartz. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  11. ^ Kalinaki, K. Daniel (30 October 2015). "CCM's John Magufuli declared Tanzania fifth president". The East African. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  12. ^ Shaban, Ebby; Feleke, Bethlehem (19 March 2021). "Tanzania swears in Samia Suluhu Hassan as first female president". CNN.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Constitution of Tanzania". Where the office of President becomes vacant by reason of the death of the President, his resignation, loss of the electoral qualifications or inability to perform his functions due to physical infirmity, or failure to discharge the duties and functions of the office of President, then the Vice-President shall be sworn in and become the President for the unexpired period of the term of five years
  14. ^ "Tanzania swears in new president after sudden death of Magufuli". Al Jazeera. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Tanzania's Samia Suluhu takes presidential oath". Business Daily. 19 March 2021.
  16. ^ Kiruga, Morris (18 March 2021). "Tanzania: The legacy of Magufuli and the beginning for Suluhu". The Africa Report.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  17. ^ Tongola, Mate (19 March 2021). "Muslim-Christianity ties that bind Suluhu's choice for deputy". The Standard. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Tanzania's Samia Suluhu Hassan sworn in as first female president". The Economic Times. AFP. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Tanzania, once sceptical of COVID-19, announces measures to curb new variants". Reuters. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Tanzania says embassies, international agencies can import COVID-19 vaccines". Reuters. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Hon. Wanu Hafidh Ameir". zanzibarassembly.go.tz. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Samia Suluhu Hassan – the woman set to become Tanzania's next president". BBC News. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Covid in Tanzania: Vaccination campaign gets underway". BBC. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
John Magufuli 		President of Tanzania
2021–Present 		Incumbent
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