Samia Suluhu Hassan, born in January 27 1960 in Zanzibar, is the first female President of Tanzania. She started her professional career in government, working first at the Ministry of Planning and Development as a clerk before going on to work at the World Food Program. In 1992, she left Tanzania to study at University of Manchester, pursuing a graduate degree in economics. In 2000, she decided to run for office & was subsequently elected as a special seat member to the Zanzibar House of Representatives. She remembers being the only female working amongst her male coworkers and facing discrimination and being belittled by her male coworkers. She was re-elected to the House in 2005 and in 2010, Samia made the decision to run for election to the National Assembly. She ran in the parliamentary district of Makunduchi and was elected with more than 80% of the vote. While serving in the National Assembly she was appointed Minister of State for Union Affairs. In 2015, when John Magafuli announced his bid for presidency, he announced Samia as his running mate. When he won, Samia became the first ever female Vice President in the country’s history. They were re-elected for a second term in October of 2020 but upon Magafulis death in March 2021, she became the first female president of Tanzania. She was sworn into office on March 19, 2021 to complete the remainder of the term. In addition to being the first female president of Tanzania, she is also the first Zanzibari and only the third Muslim in the country’s history to hold the post.