Samia Suluhu Hassan - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Tanzanians go to the polls in 2025: President Samia has changed the landscape, but Magufuli’s legacy persists

IT'S been three years since the death of Tanzania’s president John Magufuli and the rise to power of the current president Samia Suluhu Hassan. Magufuli was Tanzania’s fifth president. He came to power in 2015 and was re-elected in 2020 in a poll that was marred by controversy. Magufuli brought lasting changes to Tanzania’s political landscape during his six-year tenure. His approach sparked differing opinions, both within the country and on the international stage. Inside the country, he was loved and loathed almost in equal measure. To his detractors, his administration was marked by a decline in political and civic…

Nov

2023

By NUZULACK DAUSEN

Germany and Tanzania to open talks on colonial legacy

NEWS

GERMANY will open talks with Tanzania about the legacy of its three decades of colonial rule in the East African nation, the two countries presidents said. Tanzanian politicians and activists have long pushed for reparations and the return of human remains from their country that is displayed in German museums. “We have discussed this in detail and we are ready to open negotiations to see how we are going to agree on the German colonial legacy," Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said at a news conference with her German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "I know there are families that are waiting…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Kamala Harris announces Tanzania trade boost during Africa tour

NEWS

NUZULACK DAUSEN U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced plans to boost trade with and investment in Tanzania during a visit there, part of an African tour aimed at strengthening ties with a continent where China and Russia increasingly hold sway. Harris started her trip on Sunday in Ghana before flying late on Wednesday to Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam, where she met President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday. The two women gave short statements to the media before going into a longer session of private talks. "Working together, it is our shared goal to increase economic investment in Tanzania…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Tanzania lifts ban on political rallies

NEWS

NUZULACK DAUSEN TANZANIA'S President Samia Suluhu Hassan lifted a ban on political rallies, six-and-a-half years after her predecessor John Magufuli imposed the measure which caused frequent run-ins between opposition leaders and police. Under the policy, which came into force in 2016, elected politicians were allowed to conduct rallies in their constituencies but other political rallies or protests were banned. "I am here to declare that the ban on political rallies has been lifted. It is the right of political parties to hold rallies but we all have responsibilities," Hassan told leaders of Tanzania's 19 registered political parties during a meeting…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Tanzania’s Hassan has put out positive signals: deeper change is yet to come

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AFTER the death of President John Magufuli on 17 March 2021, Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan became Tanzania’s sixth president and the first woman in the office. She may have been an “accidental president” but she seems to have set Tanzania on a change of course compared to the approach taken by her predecessor. Her government has enhanced diplomatic relations, approached the COVID-19 pandemic differently and increased the number of women in high political office. The extent to which this will bring institutional rather than merely rhetorical change is unclear. Detractors will point to her lack of commitment to broader constitutional…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

IMF approves $567 mln in emergency support for Tanzania

BUSINESS

ANDREA SHALAL THE International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved $567 million in emergency support for Tanzania to help it finance a COVID-19 vaccination campaign and meet the health and social costs of the pandemic, the IMF said in a statement. The IMF board approved a disbursement of $189 million to Tanzania under its Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), as well as $378 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), the global lender said. The COVID-19 outbreak and associated travel restrictions have led to the collapse of the tourism sector in the East African country, which had denied the existence of…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Tanzania suspends second newspaper in less than a month

MEDIA FREEDOM

TANZANIA has suspended another newspaper accused of false stories even though President Samia Suluhu Hassan had pledged to uphold media freedoms quashed by her predecessor. Raia Mwema, a leading Swahili-language weekly, was suspended for 30 days from Monday, for "repeatedly publishing false information and deliberate incitement," Gerson Msigwa, the government's chief spokesperson, said in a statement. Msigwa cited three recent stories, including one about a gunman who killed four people in a rampage through a diplomatic quarter of Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam. The article linked the gunman to ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the statement read, adding…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Tanzania launches vaccination drive

COVID-19

TANZANIA’S President Samia Suluhu Hassan received her COVID-19 vaccine in public, in the most decisive signal yet of a break from the policies of her late predecessor who repeatedly dismissed the threat of the pandemic. Hassan took office after the death in March of former President John Magufuli, who had warned citizens against COVID-19 vaccines and recommended at-home remedies such as steam inhalation. Since then, the government has changed tack: officials now call for social distancing and emphasise mask-wearing in public. In June, Tanzania also joined the global COVAX scheme for sharing vaccines with poorer nations, culminating in the delivery…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Opposition leader charged with terrorism-related crimes

NEWS

A court in Tanzania has charged the leader of the main opposition party with terrorism-related crimes, police have said, following his arrest while preparing for a meeting to discuss proposals for a new constitution. Freeman Mbowe, head of the Chadema party, and 10 others were detained in the city of Mwanza on Wednesday, in what the party said was proof that President Samia Suluhu Hassan was continuing with the authoritarianism of her late predecessor John Magufuli. Jumanne Muliro, Dar es Salaam special zone police commander, said Mbowe had been charged at Dar es Salaam's Kisutu Resident Magistrate's court. "It is…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Tanzania to spend $470 million on vaccines

COVID-19

TANZANIA will spend $470 million buying vaccines and supporting economic sectors hit hard by the coronavirus, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said has announced. Since Hassan took office after the death of then-president John Magufuli in March, the government has changed tack from playing down the pandemic to calling for social distancing and emphasising mask wearing in public. Issuing the first data on infections since May 2020, Hassan said there were more than 100 COVID-19 patients in Tanzania as of last Saturday, with 70 of them being provided oxygen. Half of the cash will be spent on vaccines, protective gear and…