Samia Suluhu Hassan
Samia Suluhù Hassan is the designated survivor and Tanzania's new Commander-in-Chief. According to the Constitution of Tanzania, if a sitting president passes on, his or her deputy takes over and serves the remainder of the term. Hassan becomes the first female head of state in East Africa.
While the world celebrates the women's month, Africa has lost one of the gallant sons of the soil who was a champion of women empowerment, education and gender equality. President John Magufuli changed the way government did business, cared about the poor, fought corruption, cut down on expenditure and initiated numerous infrastructure and social projects.
Magufuli reduced the cabinet size from thirty to nineteen and banned government officials from foreign trips. He went on to abolish tax exemptions for senior government officials and reduced their salaries. John Magufuli rejected a $10 billion loan from China and accused a UK company, Acacia Mining of illegal mining.
In 2016, Magufuli introduced free education in government schools and acquired six Air Tanzania aeroplanes. Dr. Magufuli built a gold refinery project, expanded the Julius Nyerere International Airport and the Port of Dar es Salaam. He didn't go on state trips outside Africa and managed to make Tanzania an Upper Middle Income Economy.
President Samia Hassan has a mammoth task ahead of her. She has to navigate what John Magufuli has left behind, including his policies on Coronavirus. As women #choosetochallenge this year, the sixty-one year old leader appears to be ready to continue with what Magufuli started. President John Magufuli announced Hassan as his running mate first in 2015 and later in 2020 but the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party was surprised because Samia Hassan came to national prominence in 2014 as the vice-chairperson of the Constituent Assembly created to draft a new constitution.
President Hassan is set to lead sixty million people and is expected to start sharing Covid-19 data with the World Health Organisation, something that her predecessor stopped doing last year. John Magufuli declared Tanzania Covid-19 free through divine intervention. The official tally still stands at 509 cases and 21 deaths. Magufuli displayed a disregard for face masks and health advice, focusing on prayer and local remedies.
While Tanzania is mourning Magufuli's demise, Zulu warriors bid farewell to their king whom they have known for half-a-century. The kings's role was largely ceremonial, with at least eleven million subjects, King Goodwill Zwelithini had significant political influence. Although some say the king was a peacemaker, others argue his influence led to further bloodshed during volatile times.
Zwelithini was known as a traditionalist often promoting the Zulu culture but he was criticised too for a comment he made in 2015, saying that foreigners should return to their homes. King Goodwill also publicly condemned homosexuality and was one of the largest landlords in the world and controlled nearly One-Third of the land in Kwazulu-Natal.
Samia Hassan's rise to power comes a few weeks after a fellow African woman; Ngozi Okonjo- Lweala from Nigeria became the first female director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Women are taking over and they are doing wonders.
Sometimes the king is a woman!
May the departed African Souls Rest in Eternal Peace.
@stajicesimmz