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Ranga Mataire
Deputy Editor
On March 19 2021, Madam Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as Tanzania’s first female President following the death of President Joseph Pombe Magufuli.
As if to pre-empt any doubters, the new President used the swearing in ceremony to assert her authority. Before a packed stadium, President Suluhu Hassan said: “I know there are people who have doubts and ask, ‘Can this woman be the President of the United Republic of Tanzania?’ Well, I would like to tell them that the one standing here is the president. I repeat, the one standing here is the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, who is biologically a woman.”
If there were any Tanzanians who thought they could roughshod Madam Suluhu Hassan because of her being a woman, then they must stand ready for a sterner and resolute leader who has pledged to pursue her predecessor’s vision.
But who is Samia Suluhu Hassan, who since assuming the Vice President has never been publicly taken any images with her retired agricultural officer husband- Hafidh Ameir?
Born on January 27, 1960, in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, Madam Samia Suluhu Hassan was raised by her mother- a housewife and her father- a school teacher. She graduated from high school but has consistently said that her finishing results were poor.
After completing her secondary education in 1977, the young Samia took a clerical job in the Ministry of Planning and Development and thereafter pursued short-courses on a part-time basis.
In 1986, she graduated from the Institute of Development Management (now Mzumbe University) with an advanced diploma in public administration. After graduation, Samia Suluhu Hassan took a job at the World Food Programme. Keen in advancing her education, she enrolled at the University of Manchester in United Kingdom between 1992 and 1994 and graduated with a postgraduate diploma in economics.
But she was not done yet in as far as education was concerned. She juggled the rigours of political life with studying and in 2015 she obtained an MSc in Community Economic Development via a joint-programme between the Open University of Tanzania and the Southern New Hampshire University.
A mother of four children with her second born, Wanu Hafidh Ameir being a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, President Samia Suluhu Hassan assumed public office in 2000 and later served as the Member of Parliament for Makunduchi constituency from 2010 to 2015 and has been Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office for the Union Affairs since 2010.
In 2014, she was elected Vice-Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the country’s constitution. Her calm demeanour in managing occasional outbreaks of misunderstandings endeared her with many Tanzanians. She is hailed for being a good listener and a believer in following procedures when it comes to executing national tasks.
Madam Samia Suluhu Hassan was elected as President Magufuli’s running mate in 2015 and was subsequently re-elected last year along with him and according to the constitution, she is to serve out the rest of the five-year term.
Although many Tanzanians say that she was a surprise choice for a running mate in 2015 as she overtook several other prominent politicians in the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, she has defied her critics by performing her duties imperfectly.
The new President is also known for her motherly demeanour and non-abrasive approach to politics. Madam Samia Suluhu Hassan was the foreign public face of President Magufuli at most international forums as the later preferred staying home.
And her motherly demeanour and non-abrasive approach to politics was on display as she delivered her inauguration speech saying: “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.”
But none should take for granted her soft-approach as during the same occasion she warned that she may look polite and do not shout but the most important thing is that everyone understands the direction she wants to take her country to.
“She has just given her maiden speech and it was a very emotional tribute to her predecessor John Magufuli.”
“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,” Hassan said in a speech last year
Hassan is the only other current serving female head of state in Africa alongside Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde, whose role is mainly ceremonial.
As the curtain comes down on March as the Women’s Month, Africa takes pride in President Samia Suluhu Hassan as the only female Head of State on the continent. Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde is largely ceremonial.
Other female leaders who have been at the helms of leadership in their countries are:
1993-4 — Sylvie Kinigi — caretaker President of Burundi, following the killing of Melchior Ndadaye
1996-7 — Ruth Perry — chair of Council of State after Liberia’s first civil war
2006-18 — Ellen Johnson Sirleaf — elected President of Liberia
2009 — Rose Francine Rogombé — interim President of Gabon following the death of Omar Bongo
2012 — Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau — Acting President of Mauritius, after the resignation of Sir Anerood Jugnauth
2012-14 — Joyce Banda — President of Malawi, after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika
2014-16 — Catherine Samba-Panza – transitional President of Central African Republic, elected by parliament
2015-18 — Ameenah Gurib-Fakim — President of Mauritius, elected by parliament
2018-present — Sahle-Work Zewde — President of Ethiopia, elected by parliament
Online Reporter