Samia Suluhu Hassan Sworn In As First-Ever Woman President Of Tanzania

Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan took oath on Friday, thereby becoming the first-ever woman to hold the seat in this East African country. Her appointment comes two days following the death of President John Magufuli, on whose administration she served as the first female Vice-President of Tanzania.

61-year-old Hassan was sworn in as Magufuli's rightful successor by way of a constitutional provision that holds if a president dies while serving a term in office, their deputy will take charge. Hassan is the sixth President of Tanzania since the country's independence in the 1960s.

Watch the video of her oath ceremony

Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan has just been sworn-in as Tanzania's first female President.

She becomes the fourth executive President in Africa ever, and the fifth in general. pic.twitter.com/QMJ9De1gVH

Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan has just been sworn-in as Tanzania's first female President.

She becomes the fourth executive President in Africa ever, and the fifth in general. pic.twitter.com/QMJ9De1gVH

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) March 19, 2021

Experts put forward that one of the first tasks at hand for Hassan, in her role as President, would be to rein in the spread of COVID-19 in Tanzania, an issue on which her predecessor's governance had been severely criticised. She will also have to cement her place as President with due backing from her Chama Cha Mapinduzi party.

Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan: Get To Know Her

Hassan is a graduate of the Institute of Development Management in Public Administration with a further post-graduate degree in Community Economic Development. In 2000, she was elected to a special seat as a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, going on to become a minister in the President Amani Abeid Karume administration.

She came to the spotlight most prominently in 2014 as the vice-chairperson of the assembly that drafted a new constitution for Tanzania. To the people of her nation, she is known fondly as Mama Samia, her title a mark of reverence.