After garnering 97.66% of the total votes cast in Tanzania’s elections according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the President-elect, Samia Suluhu Hassan, was inaugurated to assume the country’s top office. Despite the criticism recorded among the citizenry about how shambolic the voting exercise was, with the majority grumbling about disenfranchisement, African leaders graced the swearing-in ceremony, a move evidently in tandem with the dictates of diplomacy.
INEC stated that more than 32 million voters cast their ballots in the 29 October 2025 elections. This statement came in despite the video footage that showed how certain polling stations were engulfed and razed by fire in the course of the deadly protest.
Suluhu’s swearing-in ceremony was conducted in an unorthodox manner, as it was meticulously supervised at a military base, the Tanzania People’s Defence Force Parade grounds in the capital, Dodoma. The celebration was neither held at a public stadium nor was it open to the public, as has been the norm.
In what was seen as a spirit of camaraderie, several African leaders attended the ceremony. Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye, Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema and Mozambique’s Daniel Chapo were among the dignitaries who were present at the ceremony. Kenya’s Deputy President Kithure Kindiki also attended the ceremony.
The African Union (AU) leadership, through the chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, congratulated President Suluhu for her resounding victory.
“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, takes note of the results of the presidential election in Tanzania and congratulates H.E. President Samia Suluhu Hassan for her victory”, said Youssouf, who further condoled with the families of the victims who lost their lives during the electoral-related protests.
Youssouf’s congratulatory message was met with uproar among the netizens. The swearing-in, which was for invitees only, proceeded uninterrupted amidst deadly violence, which was condemning Suluhu’s leadership style.
Other African leaders who congratulated Suluhu include Kenya’s William Ruto, DRC’s Felix Tshishekedi and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni.
It was a tense electioneering period. Internet access was at some point shut down, and curfew was imposed to curtail mass action. The election that saw Suluhu battle to victory against other uncommon figures in the political sphere locked out key opposition figures such as Tundu Lissu of Chadema and Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo.
“Some foreign nationals were arrested for alleged involvement in street protests during elections, and I vow to punish them”, said Suluhu while commenting on the protests that were witnessed during the electioneering period.
Samia Suluhu Hassan, the incumbent, came to power in 2021 following the demise of her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli. The 65-year-old was then elevated to the presidential capacity to fill the gap in steering the nation forward, a post that she has officially reclaimed through the ballot.
As she begins her term in office, President Suluhu has called for peace, unity and dialogue for the realzsation of national development. She is serving as one of the only two female presidents that the continent of Africa has. Another female President is Namibia’s 73-year-old Ndemupelila Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, nicknamed NNN.
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