Samia Suluhu

Samia Suluhu Hassan (born 27 January 1960) is a Tanzanian politician who has served as president of Tanzania since 19 March 2021.

She is the first woman to serve in the position.

Suluhu was born in the Sultanate of Zanzibar on 27 January 1960 to a teacher and his wife.

Four years later, Zanzibar unified with Tanganyika to form the nation of Tanzania.

She completed her secondary education in 1977, and she began working as an office clerk.

She married agriculturalist Hafidh Ameir the following year.

Together they had three sons and one daughter.

Their daughter Wanu Hafidh Ameir (born 1982), the couple's second child, went on to become a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives.

Suluhu 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.

Suluhu became a development officer with the regional Zanzibar government in 1988.

She became a project manager at the World Food Programme.

In the 1990s, she was put in charge of a body that regulates non-governmental organisations in Zanzibar.

Between 1992 and 1994, she attended the University of Manchester and earned a postgraduate diploma in economics.

A native of Zanzibar, Suluhu served as a minister in the semi-autonomous region from 2000 to 2010.

In 2000, Suluhu became a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, where she was appointed Zanzibar's Minister for Youth Employment, Women and Children.

While in this position, she ended the prohibition on new mothers returning to school.

She was the only high-ranking woman minister in the cabinet and was treated less seriously by her male colleagues because she was a woman.

She was re-elected in 2005 and was appointed as Minister for Tourism and Trade Investment.

She then 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 2010, Suluhu sought election to the National Assembly, standing in the parliamentary constituency of Makunduchi and winning by more than 80%.

President Jakaya Kikwete appointed her as the Minister of State for Union Affairs.

In 2014, she was elected as the vice-chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with the drafting of the country's new constitution.

In 2014, she was elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the country's new constitution.

She previously served as vice-president of Tanzania from 2015 to 2021, from which she ascended to the presidency following the death of her predecessor, John Magufuli.

Suluhu became Tanzania's first female vice-president following the 2015 general election, after being elected on the Chama Cha Mapinduzi ticket with Magufuli.

She later obtained her MSc in Community Economic Development in 2015 via a joint programme between the Open University of Tanzania and Southern New Hampshire University.

Suluhu was the vice-presidential candidate for the CCM in the 2015 general election, along with presidential candidate John Magufuli.

She was an unexpected choice, as several more prominent and influential politicians were passed on for the role.

She was the first female running mate in the party's history.

They won the election, and they were sworn in on 5 November 2015.

Suluhu became the first female Vice-President of Tanzania.

A dispute emerged between Magufuli and Suluhu in 2016 in which questions of her loyalty were raised, but Suluhu then made public statements in support of Magufuli.

Suluhu and Magufuli were re-elected to a second term in 2020.

As president, Suluhu has implemented democratic reforms, reversing the policies of her predecessor that were implemented to repress political opposition.

She also implemented policies to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania, which Magufuli had denied was a serious issue.

Other focuses of her presidency have included the expansion of infrastructure and the globalisation of the Tanzanian economy through investors and tourism.

Magufuli and Suluhu were re-elected in the 2020 general election, though the victory was called into question after allegations of electoral fraud by independent observers.

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 on 19 March 2021 to serve the remainder of his second term.