After John Magufuli’s untimely death, Samia Suluhu Hassan, a soft-spoken Muslim lady, was propelled from her obscure role as vice president to become Tanzania’s first female leader. Hassan, the country’s 61-year-old vice president, will conclude Magufuli’s second five-year term, which will end in 2025, according to the constitution. Hassan was born in Zanzibar, a former slaving hotspot and trading outpost in the Indian Ocean, on January 27, 1960. Zanzibar, which was still a Muslim sultanate at the time, did not officially join mainland Tanzania for another four years. Her mother was a housewife and her father was a schoolteacher. Hassan graduated from high school, but she had said publicly that her grades were low, and she began working as a clerk in a government office at the age of 17. She holds graduate degrees from Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The mother of four has taken to the stage to inspire Tanzanian women and girls to fulfil their ambitions.
Hassan, a former office clerk and construction officer, started her political career in Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago, in 2000, before being elected to the national assembly and appointed a senior ministry on the mainland. She rose through the ranks of the ruling party before Magufuli chose her as his running mate in his first presidential election bid in 2015. Hassan made history when she was sworn in as the country’s first female vice president by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Last October, the pair were re-elected in a contentious election that was marred by delays, according to the opposition and independent observers. Hassan would sometimes accompany Magufuli on foreign journeys, but those outside Tanzania had never heard of her until she appeared on national television wearing a black headscarf to announce Magufuli’s death at the age of 61 after a brief illness.
Hassan solemnly announced 14 days of mourning in a deliberate and gently spoken speech, in sharp contrast to her predecessor’s thunderous rhetoric. She would take advice from the CCM before naming a new vice president. According to analysts, Hassan will be pressured early on by influential Magufuli supporters within the group, who control intelligence and other vital facets of governance, who will aim to influence her decisions and agenda. “Those who were waiting for a breakaway from the Magufuli way of things should hold their breath for the time being,” Thabit Jacob, a Tanzania expert at Roskilde University in Denmark, said.
