In the image, Samia Suluhu Hassan – Picture by Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Friday, 19 March 2021, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania: Tanzania’s hitherto Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan (61) was sworn in as the East African country’s first female president after the sudden death of President Dr. John Magufuli from a heart failure.
According to Tanzania’s constitution, the vice president serves out the remainder of the term of a president who passes away whilst in office. Magufuli (61), who was first elected in 2015, secured a second five-year term in polls won in October 2020.
The constitution also states that after consultation with their party, the new president will propose a deputy, the choice to be confirmed by the votes of no fewer than 50 per cent of the National Assembly.
Hassan is the first Union head of state to be born in -the then Sultanate of- Zanzibar; the archipelago that forms part of the union of the Republic of Tanzania. She is described as a soft-spoken consensus builder. She is now Tanzania’s sixth president since the Union between Tanganyika with Zanzibar and Pembar in 1964.
Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is the Union’s head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. A president is permitted to serve merely two terms, be it consecutively or separated by an hiatus. The President of Tanzania resides at Ikulu, or State House located in Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city.
As head of the Executive branch of government the president appoints a prime minister, and cabinet members from the National Assembly. He is also entitled to appoint ten unelected MPs who are able to take up a seat in the union’s cabinet.
For further information
Presidency of Tanzania: https://www.ikulu.go.tz
