What next, after John Magufuli’s death?

Less than five months after the October 28 General Election, Tanzania has been thrust into a leadership transition that will see Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan ascend to the presidency as per the constitution.

Ms Suluhu on Wednesday announced President John Magufuli’s death from a "heart condition".

She declared a 14-day mourning period, during which the country’s flags will fly at half-mast.

Under Tanzania's constitution, Ms Suluhu will become the country's president for the rest of President Magufuli's five-year term, which was to end in 2025.

The government did not release any updates Thursday on President Magufuli’s burial, or any other national ceremonies including the expected inauguration of Ms Suluhu to Tanzania’s new Head of State.

Section 37(5) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania states: “Where the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, loss of electoral qualifications or inability to perform his functions due to physical infirmity or failure to discharge the duties and functions of the office of President, then the Vice President shall be sworn in and become the President for the unexpired period of the term of five years and in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 40.”

“…after consultation with the political party to which he belongs, the President shall propose the name of the person who shall be Vice President and such appointment shall be confirmed by the National Assembly by votes of not less than 50 percent of all the Members of Parliament.”

The constitution does not mention the time frame on when all these events should be done.

Lawyers have offered different interpretations on what could be the way forward for now.

“I think it should be immediately to fill the leadership vacuum left after the death of the president,” said the president of Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), Dr Rugemeleza Nshala.

After the General Election, the president-elect is supposed to be sworn-in in seven days.

Dr Nshala believes even under the current circumstances, the acting time should not exceed a week.

The current transition circumstances are new as Tanzania has never experienced the death of a sitting president in its history.

“I think swearing-in of the new president may be done when things have settled after burials. It’s not proper under normal logic that you hold swearing-in ceremonies with a dead body inside,” said advocate Jebra Kambole.

The constitution has also set conditions for a president who is sworn in under the above circumstances.

“Where the Vice President holds the office of President in accordance with the provisions of Article 37(5) for less than three years, he shall be eligible to contest for the office of President for two terms, but where he occupies the office of President for three years or more, he shall be eligible to contest for the office of President for one term only,” states the constitution.

Ms Suluhu, who will rule until 2025, will therefore have a chance to run for president for only one more term.

After the anticipated swearing in, Ms Samia will also have “an option to form her government. She has the option to appoint new ministers or continue with the incumbents as the constitution does not make it mandatory,” says Dr Nshala.

“In most cases, the top leaders like to form their own team,” he added.

According to section 57(2)(f) of the constitution, the office of a minister or a deputy Minister shall become vacant upon the occurrence of several circumstances.

One of them is that the positions end immediately before a President-elect assumes office.

In what is seen as the preparations for the transition, the ruling party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) called for a special meeting of the party’s central committee on Saturday.

Addressing a press briefing in Dodoma yesterday, CCM secretary for publicity and ideology Mr Humphrey Polepole did not reveal the agenda of the special meeting, which will be held in Dar es Salaam.

But currently, the ruling party leaders were scratching their heads over who will be the next Vice President.

The meeting may, therefore, among other issues, discuss and possibly propose the Vice President, who is supposed to come from the mainland.

The constitution requires the vice president to come from mainland Tanzania if the president is from Zanzibar, and vice versa.

On the other hand, Speaker of the National Assembly Job Ndugai directed members of the Parliament’s committees who were on tour to inspect development projects in various regions to return back to Dodoma as soon as possible.

He said recalling of the MPs follows the death of the president, but did not explain what they were going to do in Dodoma.

But the person who will be proposed for the position of the vice president will have to be approved by the National Assembly, with at least 50 percent of votes from all MPs.

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