President of Tanzania

President of the United Republic of Tanzania
Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania
Coat of arms of Tanzania
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Samia Suluhu Hassan since 19 March 2021
Executive branch of the Government of Tanzania
Style	Her Excellency Mheshimiwa Rais (Swahili)
Type	Head of state Head of government
Member of	Cabinet
Residence	Ikulu
Seat	Dodoma
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Tanzania (1977)
Formation	29 October 1964;61 years ago (1964-10-29)
First holder	Julius Nyerere
Deputy	Vice-President of Tanzania
Salary	98,287,560 Tanzanian shilling/US$42,000 annually [1]
Website	www.ikulu.go.tz

The President of the United Republic of Tanzania (Swahili : Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is the head of state and head of government ^[2] of Tanzania.

Samia Suluhu Hassan, sworn in on 19 March 2021, is the first female president of the United Republic of Tanzania. She succeeded John Magufuli following his death on 17 March 2021.

Presidential term

The president serves a term of five years. As of 2025, there is a two-term limit for the president in the Constitution of Tanzania. The first president for whom the term limits applied was Mwinyi in 1995. ^{[3] [4]}

Executive powers

The president of Tanzania is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and is "accountable to a legislature composed of elected members and representative of the people." ^[5]

List

Main article: List of heads of state of Tanzania

After its independence in 1961 as Tanganyika, the country was first led by Richard Turnbull as governor-general until Julius Nyerere became the first and only president under the 1962 constitution. The 1964 constitution after the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar has had 6 presidents with each serving multiple terms except Samia Suluhu Hassan. Julius Nyerere served 5 terms total from 1962–1985, having served 4 terms under the 1964 constitution. All presidents of Tanzania have been from the Tanganyika African National Union party which later merged to become the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party.^{[ citation needed ]}

Latest election

Main article: 2025 Tanzanian general election

7.20% reporting
Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Samia Suluhu Hassan	Chama Cha Mapinduzi	1,527,816	97.95
	Mwalim Salum Juma	Chama cha Ukombozi wa Umma	10,253	0.66
	Gombo Samandito Gombo	Civic United Front	5,552	0.36
	Coaster Jimmy Kibonde	Chama Cha Makini	4,754	0.30
	Kunje Ngombale Mwiru	Alliance for African Farmers Party	2,311	0.15
	Almas Hassan Kisabya	National Reconstruction Alliance	2,260	0.14
	Abdul Juma Mluya	Democratic Party	1,559	0.10
	Mwaijojele David Daud	Chama Cha Kijamii	748	0.05
	Ambar Khamis Haji	NCCR–Mageuzi	718	0.05
	Wilson Elias Mulumbe	Alliance for Democratic Change	711	0.05
	Saum Hussein Rashid	United Democratic Party	628	0.04
	Rwamugira Mbatina Yustas	Tanzania Labour Party	489	0.03
	Doyo Hassan Doyo	National League for Democracy	461	0.03
	Kyara Majalio Paul	Sauti ya Umma	377	0.02
	Bussungu Georges Gabriel	Tanzania Democratic Alliance	372	0.02
	Twalib Ibrahim Kadege	United People's Democratic Party	372	0.02
	Noty Mwajuma Mirambo	Union for Multiparty Democracy	343	0.02
Total			1,559,724	100.00
Valid votes			1,559,724	99.74
Invalid/blank votes			4,134	0.26
Total votes			1,563,858	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,656,718	94.39
Source: INEC

See also

• Politics of Tanzania
• List of governors of Tanganyika
• List of heads of state of Tanzania
• Vice-President of Tanzania
• Prime Minister of Tanzania
  • List of prime ministers of Tanzania
• List of sultans of Zanzibar
• President of Zanzibar
• Vice President of Zanzibar
• List of heads of government of Zanzibar

References

1. wa Simbiye, Finnigan (6 December 2013). "PM scoffs at super salary rumour". Daily News (Tanzania) . Dodoma. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
2. "Tanzania National Website". Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
3. Cook, Candace; Siegle, Joseph. "Circumvention of Term Limits Weakens Governance in Africa". Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
4. "Tanzania (United Republic of) 1977 (rev. 2005)". The Constitute Project. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
5. "Tanzania (United Republic of) 1977 (rev. 1995) Constitution - Constitute". www.constituteproject.org. Retrieved 18 March 2021.