By John Ikani
President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Saturday January 8, made a Cabinet reshuffle that some commentators have quickly labeled as the President’s list of new loyalists.
In the changes announced by the President’s Chief Secretary Hussein Katanga, several senior cabinet members were sacked.
They include Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements, William Lukuvi; Industry and Trade Minister, Kitila Mkumbo; as well as Constitution and Legal Affairs Minister, Prof. Palamagamba Kabudi.
Also left out is Geoffrey Mwambe who was the Minister of Investment.
The reshuffle came just days after the Speaker of Parliament quit following a public falling out with Hassan over controversial comments criticising the level of Government borrowing.
Hassan, who became Tanzania’s first female President in March last year, had hinted at the reshuffle earlier this week, saying she wants to expel people in the Government she suspects of siding with rivals ahead of elections due in 2025.
She accused rivals inside the Government of trying to smear her leadership in a rare public showing of division within the ranks of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party.
The latest reshuffle is President Suluhu’s second in one year, as changes were also made in March 2021.
