In Magufuli’s death, enters Madam President Suluhu of ‘firsts’
Sad news emerged from power corridors of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, as the country’s vice president Saima Hassan Suluhu informed the people of the death of President John Magufuli on Wednesday.
“Dear Tanzanians, it is sad to announce that today 17 March 2021 around 6 p.m. we lost our brave leader, President John Magufuli who died from heart illness at Mzena hospital in Dar-es-Salaam where he was getting treatment,” she announced at the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TB).
A man locally referred to as the ‘bulldozer’, who commanded love and hate in equal measure had rested. It was a moment of anguish but political solution for the power vacuum had to be sought. And on Friday, March 19, the country found the fix although sunk in its lowest moment of sorrow.
Saima Hassan Suluhu was sworn in as the sixth president of the East African nation. ‘Suluhu’ in Kiswahili means a ‘solution’ –and so came the event that befitted her name and purpose.
Woman of firsts
She was dressed in a red hijab and a black coat with a red Qur’an tucked in her fingers. Though in sombre mood, Suluhu took the oath in presence of Judge Ibrahim Juma to assume the highest position in the country.
At the low-key event were retired presidents Jakaya Kikwete and Hassam Mwinyi, Speaker of the National assembly and other dignitaries who were the witnesses.
Her oath would complete another achievement. She became the first female president not only in Tanzania but in East Africa as well.
That also made her the first president to ever come from Zanzibar Island-a sultanate that normally produces prime ministers.
The power transition was in conformity with the Article 37 of the Tanzanian constitution which states: “Where the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death, then the Vice-President shall be sworn in and become the President for the unexpired period of the term of five years.
“Upon receiving such a resolution, the chief justice must then appoint a medical board of no less than three people who are experts recognised as such by the law governing medical practitioners in Tanzania. This board is then tasked with making a determination and advising the chief justice accordingly.’’
Tasks ahead
Besides preparing a befitting send off for the former head of state, all eyes are now on Suluhu as she will be treading the tricky path of consolidating the support from the ruling party CCM post-succession. Part of the tasks includes chairing a cabinet meeting and settling on a vice president.
Tanzania—a country that has thrived on socialism since post-independence—has enjoyed a power arrangement between Christians and Muslims who are the dominant groups. In this sense, Suluhu could be forced to nominate a vice president from the Christian side and from the mainland and not Zanzibar to embrace the trend.
She was born in Sultanate of Zanzibar on January 27, 1960. She joined the Ministry of Planning and Development after completing secondary education in 1977. She studied statistics at Institute of Financial Administration before proceeding to Mzumbe University in Dar-es-Salaam for Public Administration.
She then flew to India for a course in management at the Institute of Management for Leaders in Hyderabad, before heading to United Kingdom where she did a postgraduate diploma in economics at the University of Manchester. She once served as MP for Makunduchi Constituency. The new president is married to a retired agriculture officer with three children.