Samia Suluhu Hassan has been sworn in as the sixth President of the Republic of Tanzania after the death of Dr. John Joseph Pombe Magufuli. Suluhu was sworn in Friday morning at Dar es Salaam statehouse in presence of senior government officials.
Suluhu becomes the first woman to be President of Tanzania and is expected to hold the position for four years, being the remainder of Dr. John Pombe Magufuli. The Constitution of Tanzania requires the Vice President to take over as President following the death of a sitting President.
Suluhu becomes the second woman in East Africa to serve as President after Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi. She also becomes the third woman to be President Africa after Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia. She is expected to appoint another Vice President and a Prime Minister in the next few days.
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Samia Suluhu Hassan was born on 27 January 1960. She became Tanzania’s first female vice-president following the 2015 general election, after being elected on the CCM ticket, along with President Magufuli. Suluhu and Magufuli were reelected to a second term in 2020.
Before her tenure as vice-president, she served as the Member of Parliament for Makunduchi constituency from 2010 to 2015 and was also the Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office for Union Affairs from 2010 to 2015.
Prior to this, she served as a minister in the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, in the administration of President Amani Karume. In 2014, she was elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the country’s new constitution.
Source: Wikipedia.
Dr. John Pombe Magufuli died on Wednesday night as a result of heart problems. There is a 14-day national mourning with flags flying half-mast. President Uhuru Kenya issued a statement on Thursday morning, consoling with Tanzanians.