March 19, 2022, marks the one-year anniversary of Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan’s inauguration. As the country’s former vice president, Hassan became the constitutionally mandated successor of late president John Magufuli after he allegedly died from Covid-19 in early March 2021.
Her unexpected rise to the presidency led to questions around real change and Tanzania’s democratic future. How would President Hassan handle Tanzania’s reputational fallout from five years of Magufuli’s autocratic rule, a weakened regulatory environment, and a botched response to Covid-19? Within the first few months of Hassan’s presidency, journalists repeatedly used the term “cautious optimism” when describing the positive changes Hassan was promising and—in some cases—implementing.
This commentary serves as a score card outlining President Hassan’s progress in five focus areas: (1) business enabling environment, (2) Covid-19 response, (3) freedom of speech (civil society and media), (4) regional leadership, and (5) treatment of the political opposition. In each of these categories, it takes stock of what she has promised and accomplished within her first year as president and notes where she has fallen short of her stated policy goals...
Her unexpected rise to the presidency led to questions around real change and Tanzania’s democratic future. How would President Hassan handle Tanzania’s reputational fallout from five years of Magufuli’s autocratic rule, a weakened regulatory environment, and a botched response to Covid-19? Within the first few months of Hassan’s presidency, journalists repeatedly used the term “cautious optimism” when describing the positive changes Hassan was promising and—in some cases—implementing.
This commentary serves as a score card outlining President Hassan’s progress in five focus areas: (1) business enabling environment, (2) Covid-19 response, (3) freedom of speech (civil society and media), (4) regional leadership, and (5) treatment of the political opposition. In each of these categories, it takes stock of what she has promised and accomplished within her first year as president and notes where she has fallen short of her stated policy goals...
