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Tanzania’s Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as President and became the first female head of state in the East African country, following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli.
Hassan, 61, was sworn in at the State House in the country’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, on Friday. He assumes the presidency after the announcement on Wednesday of Magufuli’s death, after a two-week absence from public life that generated speculation about his health.
In a statement, the presidency said Hassan will address the nation after being sworn in and also hold a cabinet meeting.
The absence of Magufuli, Africa’s most vehement Covid-19 skeptic, since February 27 had fueled speculation about his health and sparked rumors that he had contracted the disease, although authorities denied he was ill. Hassan said he died of heart disease.
Described as a soft-spoken consensus builder, Hassan will also be the country’s first president to be born in Zanzibar, the archipelago that is part of the union of the Republic of Tanzania.
His leadership style is seen as a potential contrast to Magufuli, a brash populist who earned the nickname “Bulldozer” for forcing himself through politics and who drew criticism for his intolerance of dissent.
