From Mama Samia to the mad king

Six cartoons that explain the presidency of Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Samia Suluhu Hassan’s rise to Tanzania’s highest office was improbable. Since independence, the country’s political system has rested on a carefully balanced, politically negotiated balance of power between the mainland (formerly Tanganyika) and the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar to maintain national cohesion, despite deeply entrenched historical, religious, and regional divides.

Suluhu was a Zanzibari technocrat in a party dominated by mainland strongmen. For more than a decade, she quietly built credibility across the Union through steady public service both in her homeland of Zanzibar and in the mainland.

Beneath Suluhu’s blackout, a blanket of violence

When John Magufuli chose her as running mate in 2015 – the first woman ever on a Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ticket – it was read as a strategic, consensus pick in a crowded, factional year. She was seen as steady, loyal, and non-polarising.

After Magufuli’s sudden death in 2021, Suluhu’s calm, conciliatory image helped to steady the nation and she was hailed as a soft-spoken consensus-builder. But she then moved swiftly to consolidate power: taking over as CCM chair, purging rivals, and centralising control of key institutions. Early gestures of openness, like lifting bans on opposition rallies, shifted sharply to hardline dominance as Suluhu sought to secure her own mandate.

Tanzania is at a dangerous crossroads

This culminated in a presidential election at the end of last month – the first time Suluhu tested her popularity with the electorate. On election day itself, protests around the country were met with a brutal response from state security forces. So brutal, in fact, that opposition parties estimate that more than 1,000 people were killed over several days of unrest. Last week, The Continent’s own reporting corroborated accounts of widespread violence and fatalities – marking the most serious civil unrest since the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964.

Our resident cartoonist, Gado, has been commentating on Suluhu’s journey since it all began.

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1 July 2023

Suluhu’s government negotiated a 30-year concession for a United Arab Emirates-based logistics firm to manage Dar es Salaam’s port, amid whispers of the UAE funding Suluhu’s election campaign.

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10 September 2024

Jakaya Kikwete (JK) was president of Tanzania from 2005 to 2015 – John Magufuli’s predecessor. JK is seen as Suluhu’s political godfather, guiding her decisions and positioning her for power. She was taking notes all the way, extending Magufuli’s authoritarian streak further than anyone expected.

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26 May 2025

Suluhu’s main political challenger, Tundu Lissu of the opposition party Chadema, was jailed and charged with treason in April this year. Amnesty International reported nearly 100 disappearances of opposition party members during the campaign period.

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7 June 2025

Two activists – Kenyan Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan Agather Atuhaire – suffered horrendous torture, including sexual violence, during their detention and interrogation in Tanzania. Suluhu justified this by saying the activists intended to export “bad manners” and interfere with her country’s politics.

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20 October 2025

As the elections drew closer, it was clear the vote had been carefully stage-managed to ensure Suluhu would win in a landslide, with her political rivals detained or disqualified from contesting.

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1 November 2025

Suluhu was sworn in after the electoral commission said she had won 98% of the vote. Observers said the poll was neither fair nor credible. Protests and indiscriminate killings were reported around the country. The true death toll may never be known, but is estimated to be in the hundreds – or even thousands.