Why I’m placing all my bets on Samia Suluhu Hassan

Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan is seen after taking oath of office following the death of her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania March 19, 2021. [Tanzania State House Press/Handout via REUTERS]

When I was child, the journey to my village seemed never-ending. A long and gruelling drive that was punctuated by town after town, marketplace after marketplace. Granted, there was a lot to see along the way, from cattle to wildlife, flat lands to rolling hills, sisal fields to tea plantations.

But by the time we got to Ebusiekwe in Vihiga County, where my mother’s family is from, my body would feel like a crowded sack of flesh and bones. And we still had miles to go before we got to Bukhwamba, in Samia, Busia County, which is where my father took my mother when they were married back in 1965.

In the '80s, when I was growing up, a year would not pass without a village trip. In those days, the roads that led to Western were in a perpetual state of disrepair. There were a few stretches of uninterrupted tarmac from time to time, but for the most part, it would be a precarious balancing act from one pothole to the next. In those days, it was not unusual to spend as much time driving on the side of the road as you did on the road itself, such as it was. At least that’s how I remember it.

Last week, I was back on the road to Western for the first time in a long time. Apart from the web of diversions in Kikuyu where the southern bypass is still under construction, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that most of the roads are tarmacked and well-maintained. It was a smooth ride until we passed Kisumu City and began to approach Maseno.

Road technology

By the time we got to Ebusiekwe it felt like we were in a time machine that had teleported us back to the '80s where poorly maintained roads were par for the course. It was as if that part of the country had been locked in a time capsule, untouched by the Chinese and their road technology. Which is not a bad thing entirely.

But roads aside, Luanda -- the modest marketplace that we used to walk to when we visited my mother’s parents - is now a bustling mini-metropolis with businesses sprouting everywhere, and a scenic avenue that passes right through the centre of the town.

The avenue is flanked by overarching shade trees on both sides. Driving beneath those trees reminded me of simpler times when buying milk and bread from the market was the highlight of my transitory village existence.

Anyway, this latest trip to the land of my ancestors reminded me of the time I travelled by bus from Dar es Salaam on the Tanzanian coast to Mwanza, which is on the shores of Lake Victoria. That’s an 18-hour trip over more than 1,200 kilometres. But I’ll tell you what. The road was ‘nywee’ all the way. Then there was the time I drove from Dar to Mombasa. It was the same story.

John Magufuli

Good roads with all the signage, markings, speed bumps, and pedestrian path ways should be a part of any good road design. I even got flagged down by a cop for driving too fast; that’s how great that road was.

That road, and many others just like it, were built when the late John Magufuli was the minister for works. He undertook what people are now referring to as an ‘ambitious road project’. In true Magufuli style, he ensured that it was done per his standards.

You can say what you want about his perceived failures and successes, but one thing that you must add is that he had the courage to stand by his convictions, and the audacity to see things through, even when his reasoning was flawed. He did many other good things, and it is truly unfortunate that his legacy will forever be stained by the bad decisions he made in the latter years of his presidency.

Now the responsibility to unite a divided nation has been thrust upon the able shoulders of Madam President, Samia Suluhu Hassan. Mama Samia may be soft spoken but she has a spine of steel. No woman gets as far as she has in politics without a thick skin and an unwavering ambition to succeed.

And yes, she may be Chama cha Mapinduzi ‘damu’, and she might have learned some plays from Magufuli’s book, but there’s something about women in leadership. It’s not easy to rise to the top as females. When we do, we don’t come to play.

I’m placing all my bets on Mama Samia, may she rise, and may she shine. ‘Hongera, Mama. Wasikuchoshe’.

Ms Masiga is Peace and Security Editor, The Conversation