In 2023, former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Tanzania and met with Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan, whom she praised as having been a ‘champion of democratic reforms in the country’. President Samia described the visit by Harris as a ‘historic milestone’ for both female leaders that would be an inspiration and testimony to Tanzanian young girls’. Not sure why these two female leaders felt the the need for so much flattery, given that both had been chosen by men as running mates, mainly to appease gender movements. Samia took over the presidency after her predecessor John Magufuli died suddenly while in office. Most of us African girls had drawn true inspiration from the first African DEMOCRATICALLY-elected female president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. But I digress.
In 2025, President Samia has expressed her true self as a fascist dictator in Tanzania. She asserts that she won 98 % of the vote in the deadly and highly disputed general election that was held in the country last month. This flawed election was a sham ruse of democracy. International poll observer missions reported that the election failed to comply with election standards both local and international. The authoritarian leader went on to authorize the detention of main opposition leaders, shutting down the internet, arresting and killing of citizens that demanded she step down or those that failed to recognize her illegitimate presidency.
The fascist leader barred the opposition party from participating not only in this year’s elections but also banned them from participating in any by-elections until 2030! The opposition party had called for comprehensive reforms in the electoral system and process in Tanzania, which she vehemently refused to agree upon. So much from this so called ‘champion-of-democracy’. After violent protests broke out in the country, the main opposition leader Tundu Lissu and his supporters were arrested on charges of treason and misinformation. Samia’s government abducted, tortured and harassed opposition leaders and their supporters.
Samia’s Oppressive Regime.
Tanzanians are fed up with Samia’s oppressive regime that has caused enough destruction in the country. Under her incompetent leadership, indigenous communities like the Maasai in Ngorongoro and Loliondo have been severely oppressed. The Samia regime has tortured, killed, and evicted the Maasai from their ancestral lands and sold off this prime real estate to international hotel conglomerates and business moguls. Tanzanians are condemning the cost of living that has skyrocketed, high rates of unemployment and poverty, low wages, poor healthcare and education systems that have been the norm under this female dictator. Tanzania’s ports, rare earth minerals, tourism and other lucrative sectors have been privatized and ceded to wealthy foreign investors in dubious government deals, exploiting the country’s natural resources.
If Samia was a Man…
The international organizations and movements would be up in arms protesting #NoKings! They would have declared him a ‘threat to democracy’! So why are the women silent now? Where is Kamala Harris to condemn the acts of the woman that she once lauded as a ‘champion of democracy’? Is this what democracy looks like now, given that the international media also failed and refused to cover the election in Tanzania?
CNN Africa’s correspondent Larry Madowo stated that the reason he failed to cover Tanzania’s election was due to restrictions placed on foreign and independent journalists by the government. Why should CNN, the UN or other international media organizations capitulate to the dictatorship of Samia Suluhu?
Do we treat women dictators differently? Notably, the authoritarian dictator gagged the media, arrested hundreds of citizens, suspended newspapers that had dissenting opinions, banned independent media outlets, shut the internet off and restricted access to social media. Shouldn’t the media be even louder at raising the alarm at this kind of oppression, to stop it from spreading to other countries? It is surprising to see the media especially journalists fall short of their calling, as the voice for the oppressed!
This explains why we should all be skeptical of the media trying to declare men as a threat to democracy or ‘toxic masculinity’ in countries that accord them the free speech to do so. We are yet to hear of ‘toxic feminism’ in relation to Samia’s rule. Women cannot be allowed to steal an election and walk scot-free, without any retributions or reprimand. This double standard must end. If we expect men to win elections fairly, then the same expectation should be upheld for women. After all, that is the equality that women have been fighting for and their right to vote.
Where is Stacey Abrams that has claimed to be the keen eye for democracy, as an international observer in election missions to Africa? When she visited polling locations across Nigeria during their elections, she said to USA Today Network, “I’ve had a long standing interest in the efficacy of democracy around the world”. Why is she silent now, when democracy is almost irreparably broken by a female dictator?
Most African citizens have called out the flawed election in Tanzania, and will not recognize Samia as Tanzania’s president. African civil society groups, clerics, scholars, lawyers, human rights activists and opposition leaders have joined Tanzania’s citizens in openly condemning the acts of the dictator. Afribundance condemns the killing of citizens in Tanzania, and the oppression that they are facing under their fascist leader. Samia is not a champion of democracy, Africans think that she is the destroyer of democracy!
International media outlets and organizations have failed to speak up for democracy or women rights in Tanzania, and across Africa. Samia Suluhu has destroyed all the progress made in the fight for democracy and suffrage, reversing decades of success in women’s rights movements. The long wearisome strides that Africa has taken toward women empowerment have been destroyed by this oppressive leader. International organizations have also noticeably failed to chime in and acknowledge the democratic disaster brewing under the Samia oligarchy. The International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute in the U.S that claim to advance democracy worldwide, have failed in their mission especially in countries like Tanzania. Could some of their donors be funding the destruction of democracy in African countries?