Power to unite

Tanzania: ‘Suluhu may be the lady President who delivers a new constitution’ – Tundu Lissu

By Anne-Marie Bissada, Abdul Halim

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Posted on March 19, 2021 15:45

 © Tanzania’s new president Samia Hassan Suluhu is sworn in at a ceremony at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Friday, March 19, 2021. (AP Photo)
Tanzania’s new president Samia Hassan Suluhu is sworn in at a ceremony at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Friday, March 19, 2021. (AP Photo)

Since the official news was announced of the death of Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, many are waiting with bated breath to see if the country’s new president, Samia Hassan Suluhu, will steer the country on the same path as her former boss or take a different approach. Tundu Lissu, head of the opposition party Chadema, argues she has the power to give Tanzania a democratic foundation.

A relatively unknown politician on the international scene, Suluhu has a strong reputation among regional and national politicians. “She is a capable woman, we’ve known her since her time serving the Zanzibar government in the early 2000s,” Zitto Kabwe, the head of the opposition ACT Wazalendo party, told The Africa Report.

Many Tanzanians hope that she will rise to the challenge and bring about a new management style that will change the image of Tanzania.

“She knows Tanzania well and about the current situation facing the country. We expect her to change political leadership especially by allowing democracy to grow, creating a space for the media to operate freely and most importantly, to focus on a science-based approach in dealing with Covid-19,” says Christopher Obeid, a political commentator in Dar es Salaam.

He is not the only one who argues Suluhu has the power to change the

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