Tanzania gears up to have first female vice president

Dr John Magufuli and Dr Samia Hassan Suluhu

The October 25 General Election will likely see Tanzania have its first female Vice President.

Speaking after his resounding nomination as CCM’s presidential flag bearer in election, Dr John Magufuli announced Dr Samia Hassan Suluhu as his running mate, effectively placing the country in line to have its first ever female VP, should CCM win that is.

As Vice President, Suluhu would effectively become Africa’s second female Vice President after Uganda’s Specioza Kazibwe the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who served in the capacity of VP from 1994 to 2003.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian Summing up, Kenya’s presidential hopeful in the 2017 elections Raila Odinga was keen to comment on gender parity in the region saying Tanzania has taken a step worth emulating in lining up its first potential female vice president.

“This is something we need in the region...it advocates gender equality which is very important in empowering women,” he said.

“I congratulate her (Suluhu) on being nominated as the running partner...Uganda was the first and now Tanzania has followed, it is a great democratic statement,” he summed up.

On the other hand, women in the country have been faulted for failing to unite and elect into office the first female President for the country.

In another exclusive interview with The Guardian yesterday in Dar es Salaam, retired University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Law Professor Abdallah Safari said while there were two female nominees in CCM’s top three, “women failed to unite and vote one of them into power” he said.

Professor Safari was critical saying in their failure to support the female candidates, Tanzanian women have manifested a lack of trust in their colleagues and disunity.

“Magufuli won over 87 per cent of the votes which means most of the women in there also voted for him,” he cited.

“This shows that they lacked trust and support for the women candidates,” he said.

“The outcome is evidence of the need to maintain and increase women empowerment initiatives and to promote gender equality,” he summed up.

Samia Suluhu Hassan (54) is the Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office charged with Union Affairs between the mainland and the Isles of Zanzibar. The renowned activist turned politician was also the former Vice-Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN