Samia Suluhu sworn in as Tanzania president for second term
A Tanzanian military personnel (L) salutes Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan (R) after handing a pen to her during Hassan's state visit to South Africa at the Union buildings in Pretoria on March 16, 2023.
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Samia, 65, officially took the reins of power on Monday at the State House in the capital Dodoma, as the public was barred from attending and only a few guests were invited.
She will be deputised by Emmanuel Nchimbi.
President Suluhu's swearing in was however conducted with the internet still blocked after election protests in which the opposition says hundreds were killed by security forces.
Her victory came with harsh rejection of the election results by the main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from competing, and has called for fresh elections, calling the October 29 election vote a "sham".
The electoral commission says Hassan won 98 per cent of the vote.
The Tanzanian government imposed a curfew in Dar es Salaam, and Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Alfred Chalamila has stated that the police would take action on those who sought to disrupt the country's peace.
Tanzania's main opposition party said on Friday that hundreds of people had been killed in the protests, but the government has dismissed the alleged death toll as "hugely exaggerated" and has rejected criticisms of its human rights record.
President Suluhu served as president of Tanzania since 2021 after the demise of John Magufuli. She is the first woman to serve as president of the country and is also the first president of Tanzania to have been born in Zanzibar.
Being a long-serving member of Tanzania’s ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), made her political debut when she was elected as a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives and was appointed a minister. She was re-elected in 2005 and received another ministerial portfolio.
In 2010, she was elected to Tanzania’s National Assembly, representing the Makunduchi constituency and was later appointed the Minister of State for Union Affairs by then-President Jakaya Kikwete.
She became vice chair of the Constitutional Assembly in 2014, which was mandated with writing the country’s new constitution.
The late President Magufuli selected her as his running mate in the 2015 elections, which they won, making her the first woman to hold the Deputy President position.
This will be her first term serving as an elected president.
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