Dressed in a red hijab with her fingers wrapped around a Quran on the 19th of March 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan stood before her people and members of the Press to rewrite the history of her country, Tanzania. With the cameras flashing in the background, the country’s first female President centres herself in the foreground as she takes the sacred Presidential Oath in her native tongue, Swahili- a promise to defend and protect her nation’s constitution.
Almost a year later, she continues to honour and uphold the revered oath she took that fateful day-giving Tanzania the rightful, just leadership it needed and always deserved. Lovingly called ‘Mama Samia’- an indication of the love she has for her country and the fierce instinct she possesses to protect it.
An ‘Accidental’ President or Fulfilling a Prophecy that was meant to be?
In the vast majority of Tanzanian people who are in awe of Samia Suluhu Hassan’s presidency over her tenure, her few naysayers stick out like sore thumbs. They were quick to dub her an ‘accidental’ President- an ode to the sequence of unfortunate events that led to her taking on the role.
The sudden and untimely death of Suluhu’s presidential predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, had her assume the country’s premier position two days later. His passing is dubbed to be rather mysterious, a heart complication which is postulated by his opposition to be a fatal result of an encounter with COVID. This could very possibly be a result of the very same virus causing a global pandemic which he so blatantly denied the existence of in his own country, over the course of his presidency.
Magufuli received a hero’s burial- with a cavalcade of crowds thronging the site to pay their respects to the departed. Among those attending was the Vice President and his successor Samia Suluhu Hassan, now a front-row spectator to the love he received posthumously- shouldering the responsibility of the expectations of the Tanzanian people.
Suluhu communicates her vision a couple of days before she takes up her new role with clarity, “We will work hard to complete what Magufuli had started, in bringing development to the people. It’s not a good day for me to talk to you because I have a wound in my heart. Today, I have taken an oath different from the rest that I have taken in my career. Those were taken in happiness. Today I took the highest oath of office in mourning.”
However, she doesn’t hesitate or shy away from admitting that her approach would be rather distinct from Magufuli saying, “You should not worry at all about Magufuli’s promises. Let us all show our unity and love now as we move forward the nation.” Her one true goal is the progress of Tanzania- and this may even come at the cost of upending the former President’s media crackdowns, disruption of democratic rights and denial of a global pandemic’s presence in their East African nation. All for the better- her eyes remain unflinching, transfixed on Tanzania’s overall progress.
Suluhu’s cynics harp on about how she just happened to be in the right place at the right time- but it’s so much more than that. She also happens to possess the right skill set to tread the challenging firewalk ahead of her, one that she took on with ultimate grace and steadfastness. A review of the year that’s been for Tanzania and its people, it can be safely said, Samia Suluhu Hassan was merely fulfilling her role in a prophecy that was meant to be. She is the woman at the helm of a country, at the precipice of unbridled progress.
Samia Suluhu Hassan on being a Responsible Woman Leader
If there’s a single sentence to encapsulate Suluhu, it’s this, “I am a Mother, a Grandmother, a Wife, and a President.” She is a proud testament to how one could have it all.
She responded to all the doubts that the public had in her leadership abilities pertaining to her gender when she stepped up to become the President with definitive action begetting results.
“It is difficult, and it is not,” she says of her current role as part of a sit-down interview with BBC Africa. Suluhu’s current focus as President of Tanzania is on health- by putting in place and executing an infallible COVID-19 strategy. On the horizon, she eyes the economic growth of the country and transforming Tanzania into an efficient practicing democratic nation.
Transforming Tanzania
Under the adept leadership of Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania is in the midst of a total transformation. It started off with small yet impactful changes that sent ripples through the country- both in support of her and a handful against all she did. This, however, is just an essence of a functioning healthy democratic nation and therefore, is a welcome addition given the suppression of the democratic rights of the Tanzanian people under previous leadership. She remains diplomatic yet resilient in all her decisions. Her efforts continue- charting a slow yet steady growth for the East African nation across all facets.
Last year, Suluhu implemented an income tax cut for the benefit of the Tanzanian public. Most recently, she announced a reshuffling of the Cabinet. All of the measures she undertakes targets the one true goal of unlocking the true potential of Tanzania.
President setting Precedent during the Pandemic
Her most successful ongoing project in ameliorating the country is how she chose to respond to the pandemic. This was a U-turn from the denial-ridden approach to the pandemic in place until she took the stand. Below are a few ways that President Samia Suluhu Hassan began to acknowledge the pandemic and address it:
– Precautionary Protocols
If the day that President Sama Suluhu Hassan took the oath to become the President of Tanzania is any indication of the mask protocols in place in the country, she was just one of a handpicked number of people donning one during the ceremony. In contrast, face masks have now been made mandatory in the country and the President stresses on its importance to prevent and protect against the disease.
– Signing up for the Vaccination
Late President Magufuli was someone who had reservations on the testing protocols and vaccination drives in place in other parts of the world. Imported masks were deemed ineffective and he postulated that testing kits barked positive results for fruit and goats. His outright refusal to lockdown Tanzania to neighbouring countries, releasing COVID-19 data to the public and the initiation of the Covax vaccination drive were controversial moves that did more harm than good, in hindsight.
After Magufuli’s death, when President Samia took over, Tanzania went on the sign up for Covax to distribute the vaccination country-wide.
Mama Samia’s Covid-19 Vaccine Jab Marks the Launch of Tanzania’s Vaccination Campaign
One look at Tanzania from a year ago would assure you of their anti-vaccination stance, on the COVID-19 front. Natural remedies like steam inhalation, herbal concoctions and smoothies alongside participating in national prayers were recommended instead, with an outright rejection of vaccinations.
It’s obvious that it is much harder to convince a larger population of people who have been counterfactually warned about the dangers of COVID vaccinations to step up and get the jab. So, Samia Suluhu Hassan took the rational approach and set the way- her move to be the first one to receive the dose of the vaccination has been nothing short of fascinating.
– The Woman who took a step towards Vaccine Equity
President Samia Suluhu Hassan made headlines when she addressed the UN General Assembly and one of the points regarding the current scenario that she made it a point to highlight was vaccine equity.
She labelled the distinction between how most developed countries were on the route of boosters whereas developing nations like Tanzania were lagging far behind. The disconcerting rates of vaccine inequity is a cause of concern, Suluhu believes.
She stressed on how devastating the effect of the pandemic was on Tanzanian economy- with the staggering highs in poverty rates and crashes on the economic front. But what if all the countries got vaccine equality, asks this powerful woman leader.
– Will Tanzania remain a Stalwart Champion of Multilateralism?
The President, during her inaugural address to the United Nations General Assembly said, “Tanzania will continue to be a formidable defender of multilateralism. We will continue to embrace those who embrace us, and engage with us.”
– The Balancing Act
“At the onset of Covid-19, we in Tanzania were stuck in the twilights of protecting lives and protecting livelihoods,” President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been quoted saying. Treading this balance for Tanzania is important- it would be unwise to put lives at stake for economic growth; it would also be imprudent to bludgeon economic growth using the pandemic as an excuse.
An extraordinary woman who has proven to be a revolutionary, Samia Suluhu Hassan’s tale is one worth telling. Currently Africa’s only women President and the continent’s second-ever in history, Samia Suluhu Hassan doesn’t have any previous shoes to fill. However, over the course of her presidency, purely based on the progress she has made so far, she certainly intends to leave a rather majestic pair of shoes to fill for those who follow.
