Tyrant in a hijab joins Africa's brutal boys' club

Democracy in Africa is once again on trial.

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On Wednesday, Tanzania went to the polls to elect a new president. And President Samia Suluhu Hassan (65), the first female leader of the East African country which is a member of the southern African bloc, SADC, showed she is cut from the same cloth as her male counterparts around the continent, arresting and blocking opposition from the race, resulting in the election becoming a one-horse race.

The “tyrant in a hijab”, as she has been referred to by critics, Hassan, one of only two female presidents in Africa, has turned out to be the worst leader in Tanzanian history, using autocratic means to cling to power since coming to office after the death of John Magufuli in 2021.