Tanzania president: From reform to repression

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan, a soft-spoken politician who unexpectedly found herself as the first woman to lead Tanzania, triumphed in the east African nation’s election after barring opponents and brutally crushing protests.

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TANZANIAN President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

(AFP)

Hassan won 98% of the vote, according to the electoral commission, but the election sparked widespread protests and a government crackdown in which the opposition says hundreds have been killed.

Hassan, 65, took no chances in the run-up to the October 29 polls, with the main opposition candidates jailed or barred from running and the opposition alleging abductions and murders targeting her critics.

A former office clerk and development worker, Hassan began her political career in 2000 in her native Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago.

She rose through the ranks of the ruling Revolution Party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi: CCM), and was then picked by John Magufuli as his running mate for the 2015 election.

The pair were reelected in 2020 in a vote which independent observers said was marred by irregularities.