Tanzania swears in first female president after sudden death of Magufuli

Tanzania’s Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan, on Friday, was sworn in as the East African country’s first female President after John Magufuli’s sudden death from a mysterious ailment.

“I, Samia Suluhu Hassan, promise to be honest and obey and protect the constitution of Tanzania,” stated Hassan, clothed in a black suit and bright red headscarf as she took the oath of office before dignitaries at a ceremony in the capital, Dar es Salaam.

Samia Suluhu Hassan, sworn in as first female President of Tanzania

During her first public address as President, the 61-year-old leader declared 21 days of grieving for John Magufuli and public holidays on March 22 and 25, the day the late President will be buried.

Hassan said, “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,” she disclosed, after being sworn in, Friday.

Hassan rose to the Presidency after the demise of President Magufuli as a result of heart condition which was disclosed by the government on Wednesday, over two weeks after he was last seen in public.

The absence of Magufuli since February 27 had fuelled rumours about his health and triggered speculations that he had contracted COVID-19, though officials had denied he was sick.

Portrayed as a soft-spoken consensus builder, Hassan has become the first female President of the nation and the first to be born in Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous island in the Indian Ocean that forms part of the union of the Republic of Tanzania.

Hassan stated that Magufuli “who always liked teaching” had prepared her for the responsibilities ahead. “Nothing shall go wrong,” she added, advising all the citizens of the nation to work together to unite the country.

She said, “This is the time to stand together and get connected. It’s time to bury our differences, show love to one another and look forward with confidence.”

“It is not the time to point fingers at each other, but to hold hands and move forward to build the new Tanzania that President Magufuli aspired to,” she declared, in the midst of opposition claims about the cause of Magufuli’s demise.