Samia Suluhu Hassan, the former vice president of Tanzania was on Friday sworn in as the country’s first female president after the sudden death of John Magufuli from an illness shrouded in mystery.
Hassan, who is a 61 year-old Muslim woman from the island of Zanzibar, will finish Magufuli’s second five-year term, set to run until 2025.
She was sworn in as the country’s sixth president, at a ceremony in Dar es Salaam, wearing a bright red headscarf.
“I, Samia Suluhu Hassan, promise to be honest and obey and protect the constitution of Tanzania,” said the new president, as she took the oath of office before inspecting troops at a military parade and receiving a cannon salute.
She becomes the only other current serving female head of state in Africa alongside Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde, whose role is mainly ceremonial.
Hassan was little known outside Tanzania until she appeared on state television on Wednesday night to announce that Magufuli had died aged 61 from a heart condition after a mysterious three-week absence from public view.
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