Samia Suluhu Hassan

Suluhu was born on 27 January 1960 in Makunduchi, an old town on Unguja island, in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.[3] Mkunduchi is located in present day Kusini District of Unguja South Region of Tanzania.

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.[4]

Between 1992 and 1994, she attended the University of Manchester and earned a postgraduate diploma in economics.[5] 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.[4]

In 2000, she decided to run for public office. She was elected as a special seat member to the Zanzibar House of Representatives[6] 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.[5] She was re-elected in 2005 and was re-appointed as a minister in another portfolio.[7]

In 2010, she sought election to the National Assembly, standing in the parliamentary constituency of Makunduchi and winning by more than 80%.[7] President Jakaya Kikwete appointed her as the Minister of State for Union Affairs.[8] In 2014, she was elected as the Vice Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the country's new constitution.[9]

In July 2015, CCM's presidential nominee John Magufuli chose her as his running mate for the 2015 election,[10] making her the first female running mate in the party's history.[11] 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.[12] Both Magufuli and Suluhu were re-elected for a second five-year term on 28 October 2020.[13]

Map highlighting countries where Hassan made official visits while president

On 17 March 2021, Mama Samia 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.[14] 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;[15] opposition leaders had expressed concern about a possible "vacuum" when 18 March passed without Suluhu being sworn in.[16] Upon her swearing-in, Suluhu became Tanzania's first female president.[17] She is also the second Zanzibari to hold the post,[18] and the third Muslim after Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Jakaya Kikwete.[19] She also became one of two serving female heads of state in Africa, alongside Ethiopia's Sahle-Work Zewde.[20] 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.[15]

Suluhu (second from right) with Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Kaja Kallas of Estonia and Nicola Sturgeon of Scotland at COP26.

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.[21] 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.[22]

In 2022, she was named among the top 100 most influential people in the world by American magazine Time.[23]

In 1978, Suluhu married Hafidh Ameir, an agricultural officer who, by 2014, had retired. They have four children.[5] Her daughter Wanu Hafidh Ameir (born 1982), the couple's second child, is a special seat member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives.[41] [42] [43] 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 vaccines saying that the country "is not an island".[44]

In early 2021, she filmed a movie of "The Royal Tour" with journalist and filmmaker Peter Greenberg with the intention of promoting tourism and getting different investors to invest in her country.[49] It premiered in Los Angeles, Paramount Theatre,[50] followed by Tanzania.[51]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samia Suluhu.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Samia Suluhu Hassan.

• Professional Newsletter Production by Samia Suluhu et al., (PDF) 2005, OUT/NSHU.
• Army supports Suluhu's military diplomacy drive, Africa Intelligence, March 17, 2023 (requires free registration)