https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021
Last week, after the sudden death of Tanzanian president John Magufuli, the nation swore in Samia Suluhu Hassan, its first female president. The moment is significant for Tanzania, and not just because Hassan is a woman. Hassan is from Zanzibar — the semi-autonomous archipelago that united with mainland Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania, making her only the second Zanzibari president of the United Republic. She is a devout Muslim and wears a hijab. Out of her many politically significant identities, Hassan has stood boldly in her womanhood.
For many, Hassan is a figure of comfort and strength. Female leaders around the world have sent congratulatory messages to her. However, one cannot just assume that being a woman will mean that her leadership will automatically be better. It must be said that Hassan’s party, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi which has ruled Tanzania since independence, has trafficked in sexism. Her predecessor, Magufuli, spewed misogynistic rhetoric during his time in office. In 2017, he declared that pregnant schoolgirls should be permanently expelled from school, vowing during his presidency that not a single pregnant schoolgirl should go back to school. This resulted in thousands of expulsions each year from the formal education system. In 2018, when farmers in Tanzania opposed the government’s measure not to pay out to them part of the cashew-nut export levy, Magufuli threatened to send in security forces. Magufuli repeatedly opposed family planning efforts and even went as far as to suggest that women should set their ovaries free, calling those who support family planning “lazy”. Magufuli has trafficked in colorism, pointing out last year during the campaign that voters should vote for a female candidate because she was fair-skinned and that he listened more to fair-skinned women than dark-skinned women.
After Hassan’ss inauguration, she said that she will “continue where Magufuli left off.” Hassan’s statement deeply worried many who have witnessed five years of enforced disappearance, arbitrary imprisonment of critics, journalists, and members of the opposition, the shrinking of the civic space, and the enactment of repressive laws under Magufuli. Hassan’s response to covid-19, which has ravaged the country, also deserves scrutiny after the reckless leadership of Magufuli regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Tanzania stopped reporting covid-19 data in May 2020 after Magufuli declared Tanzania covid-free — after three days of national prayer. Magufuli also rejected vaccines, claiming that vaccines could be White men’s attempt to use Tanzanians as guinea pigs. He espoused herbal remedies and steam inhalations as treatments and created doubt about imported masks. On top of this, Tanzania has opted out of the international Covax initiative to ensure vaccine availability to Tanzanians. In the past three months, Tanzania has seen a surge in the number of covid cases and deaths.
In a way, it’s impressive that the religiously mixed Tanzania can flip from a “devout Christian” president to a “devout Muslim” one. I’d begun to assume that the entire Great Lakes region was in the grip of Catholic and evangelical fanatics. But if you really want a sensible response to Covid-19 and some respect for human rights, I suggest you try to find yourselves a devout atheist president. I have great hopes for the development of Africa over the next 50 years. But there’s no doubt in my mind that one of the biggest obstacles, and certainly the biggest source of unforced errors, will be the continent’s totally excessive religiosity. Especially when so many countries, like Tanzania, are shared between Muslims and Christians.