Tanzania Deserves Better: Why Samia Suluhu’s Incompetence Spells Doom in 2025
In the wake of Kenya’s youth uprising in June 2024, Tanzanian youth stand at a crossroads. The call for the mother of all protests grows louder, fueled by a generation suffocating under economic stagnation, corruption, and a leadership that stumbles in the dark. At the helm is President Samia Suluhu Hassan—a leader who never earned her seat through the ballot but inherited it from a man who died in office. John Magufuli’s sudden death in March 2021 thrust her into the presidency, an untested vice president now faltering under the weight of a nation’s expectations. As the 2025 elections loom, her tenure reveals a stark truth: Samia is not the leader Tanzania needs, and her inevitable failure at the polls will be a referendum on her incompetence. Here’s why.
An Accidental President, Unprepared for the Task
Samia Suluhu did not campaign for the presidency, nor did Tanzanians choose her. She was Magufuli’s deputy, a loyalist elevated to the top job by constitutional succession rather than democratic mandate. Magufuli, love him or loathe him, commanded a vision—however flawed—that rallied millions in 2015 and 2020. Samia, by contrast, inherited a throne she never fought for, stepping into a role she seems ill-equipped to wield. Her presidency lacks the legitimacy of a popular vote and the conviction of a leader forged in electoral fire. Instead, she governs as a caretaker, patching cracks in a system she neither built nor fully understands.
This accidental ascent shows in her tepid leadership. Where Magufuli bulldozed through opposition (sometimes literally), Samia dithers. Her promises of reform—lifting media bans, engaging opposition—sound progressive, but they’re shallow. The constitutional review process, a decades-long demand, remains a mirage, stalled by her own party’s resistance. Her 4Rs agenda (Reconciliation, Resilience, Reform, Rebuilding) is a slogan without substance, failing to address the rot of corruption or the cries of a youth desperate for jobs. An inherited president should prove her worth; Samia has only proven her weakness.
A Legacy of Inaction Amid Crisis
Tanzania’s challenges—youth unemployment, inflation, crumbling infrastructure—demand bold action. Yet Samia’s record is one of inertia. Take the economy: under her watch, youth unemployment lingers above 13% officially, though the real figure is likely triple that when you count the underemployed hustling in Dar es Salaam’s informal markets. Her government touts investments like the $30 billion LNG project with Shell and Equinor, but delays stretch into 2025, leaving coastal communities jobless while foreign firms bicker. Inflation, at 3-4%, seems tame, but food prices have soared—maize flour up 20% since 2022—hitting the poor hardest.
Compare this to Magufuli’s frenetic pace: dams, railways, and factories sprouted under his iron fist. Samia’s flagship effort? A timid $144 million World Bank loan in 2023 for youth employment programs that have yet to materialize into tangible jobs. Her inability to confront CCM’s old guard—entrenched cronies who siphon public funds—means corruption festers unchecked. The 2023 CAG report flagged billions of shillings unaccounted for in public projects, yet no heads roll. An inherited president could have seized the moment to break from the past; Samia clings to it, paralyzed.
Why She’ll Fail in 2025
The October 2025 presidential election will be Samia’s reckoning—and she’s poised to lose. First, her lack of a mandate haunts her. Tanzanians didn’t vote for her in 2021; they won’t in 2025 either, not when opposition figures like Tundu Lissu and CHADEMA’s rising star Zitto Kabwe tap into the youth’s hunger for change. Lissu, exiled under Magufuli, returned in 2023 with a vengeance, rallying crowds with promises of constitutional overhaul and economic justice—issues Samia sidesteps. Kabwe’s ACT-Wazalendo party gains traction in Zanzibar and urban centers, where voters see CCM as a relic.
Second, Samia’s conciliatory style alienates her base. Hardline CCM loyalists, accustomed to Magufuli’s bulldozer tactics, grumble at her softness—her refusal to crush dissent or rig elections outright. Meanwhile, the youth, who could have been her allies, see her as a figurehead of the same old elite. Her August 2024 warning—“Gen Z will not stay calm”—rings hollow when she offers no solutions to their empty stomachs. Protests in Kenya forced Ruto to scrap a tax bill; Samia lacks the spine to face her own streets.
Third, the optics are dismal. Magufuli’s death left a power vacuum, and Samia’s ascent was marred by whispers of palace intrigue—rumors she’s never fully shaken. Her international trips—over 30 since 2021—paint her as detached, sipping tea with foreign dignitaries while Tanzanians queue for cooking oil. The opposition will weaponize this, framing her as an unelected placeholder out of touch with the wananchi.
A Call to Youth: Reject the Incompetent Heir
Tanzanian youth, you hold the power to end this charade. Samia Suluhu Hassan is not your president by choice but by chance—a relic of a dead man’s regime, stumbling through a crisis she can’t solve. The 2025 election is your ballot and your battleground. Reject her timid reign. Demand a leader who fights for us, not one who inherited a crown she can’t wear. Kenya’s youth toppled a bill; we can topple a presidency. Rise up—on the streets, at the polls—and bury Samia’s accidental rule in the dustbin of history. Tanzania deserves better. We deserve better. Make it happen.
