Tanzania’s New President Wrestles With Magufuli’s Legacy

Tanzania’s New President Wrestles With Magufuli’s Legacy
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan attends the funeral service of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in his hometown of Chato, Tanzania, March 26, 2021 (AP Photo).

Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as president of Tanzania in mid-March, while the country was still reeling from the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, two days earlier. Dressed in a black suit, the 61-year-old former vice president spoke sorrowfully about the passing of Magufuli, officially from a longstanding heart condition.

“Today I have taken an oath different from the rest that I have taken in my political career,” Suluhu Hassan said upon becoming the country’s first female president and the first from the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago. “Those were taken in happiness. Today I took the highest oath of office in mourning.” She then announced that the official grieving period for Magufuli would last 21 days. Shell-shocked Tanzanians wondered where the country was headed.

In the weeks leading up to his death, Magufuli, who had just begun his second term as president, had been suspiciously absent from public life, leading to speculation that he had actually fallen ill with COVID-19 and was in a hospital bed in neighboring Kenya or India. After authorities unexpectedly announced his death, rumors about its true cause only intensified.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review