In a nationwide broadcast on Monday, Tanzania’s President, Samia Suluhu Hassan has appointed her daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, as Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology, and her son-in-law, Mohamed Mchengerwa, as Minister of Health in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle including 27 ministers and 29 deputy ministers,
Wanu Ameir, 43, the President’s only daughter and CCM Member of Parliament for Makunduchi Constituency in Zanzibar, will serve as deputy to Minister Prof. Adolf Mkenda.
Mohamed Mchengerwa, 46, husband of Wanu Ameir and MP for Rufiji in Pwani Region, takes over the full Health portfolio.
While seven former ministers were relieved of their jobs, Mrs Hassan retained Anthony Mavunde as mining minister and Mahmoud Thabit Kombo as foreign affairs minister, respectively.
The appointments form part of a major restructuring that saw 27 new ministers and 29 deputy ministers sworn in at State House, Dodoma, less than three weeks after President Samia’s controversial re-election on October 29.
Other notable appointments include Ridhiwani Kikwete, son of former President Jakaya Kikwete as Minister for Public Service Management and Good Governance.
The inclusion of immediate family members in senior positions has drawn immediate criticism from opposition leaders and civil-society groups, who have labelled the moves as nepotism