Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan Puts Education First

By Rover Publications Last updated Jun 19, 2023 70 0

On March 19, 2021, Tanzania announced the election of Samia Suluhu Hassan as president of Tanzania. However, critics were on either side of the divide as to what to expect from someone succeeding an influential leader like John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, who ruled the Eastern African country from 2015 until he died in 2021.

Although she wasn’t the first female leader of an Eastern African country, Ethiopia has a sitting female leader – President Sahle-Work Zewde, who has been in office since 2018. There were concerns about whether President Samia Hassan would have the boldness to pivot the country, known for equivocal and influential leaders like Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

But after just one year in office, President Samia Hassan has shocked her critics who thought her regime would be redundant – especially when making critical economic decisions.

So, when the news broke that the president had ordered the cancellation of the country’s Independence Day celebrations, it took many by surprise. President Hassan has diverted the budget approved for the festivities to construct dormitories for children with special needs.

The move has earned her commendations from across the globe, with socio-political commentators and critics calling her another Ngozi Okono-Iweala of Africa.

Why the comparison with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala?

Out of all the women in the world, why is President Samia Hassan being compared to the Nigerian economist, the current Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? Experts said it is a matter of economics and cost analysis.

Before her election in March 2021 as the first African to lead the World Trade Organization as Director-General, Mrs. Okono-Iweala worked with the World Bank and was behind many projects targeted at assisting the poor across Africa. She was instrumental in bailing out poor African nations through World Bank assistance during the global financial crisis of 2007–08 and the dreaded world food-price crisis of 2008–09.

While serving as the Finance Minister of Nigeria in 2003–06 and recalled again in 2011–15, under two different presidents, Okonjo-Iweala was known for her trademark cost-benefit analysis models, which she used to reduce corruption and increase financial transparency in public finances.

So, when reports revealed that President Samia Suluhu Hassan carried out a cost-benefit analysis of the budget and decided to use the funds instead to assist the poor and needy in the country, many saw her taking steps in the symbolic shadows of Ngozi Okono-Iweala.

No Independence Day Celebrations, What Next?

Members of the Parliament approved a budget of Sh960 million for the 61st Independence celebration of the eastern African country. But according to Tanzania’s Minister of State, Mr. George Simbachawene, the president has ordered the funds to be used to construct dormitories for children with special needs.

The schools to benefit from the funds include Buhangija (Shinyanga), Goeko (Tabora), Darajani (Singida), Mtanga (Lindi), Songambele (Manyara), Msanzi (Rukwa), Idofi (Njombe), and Longido (Arusha).

What are your thoughts on the decision of the president?