By Tanzania’s newly reconstituted cabinet has ignited a firestorm of public criticism after President Samia Suluhu Hassan appointed her daughter and son-in-law to powerful ministerial positions, sparking accusations of deepening nepotism within the ruling establishment.
In the latest reshuffle announced shortly after her landslide re-election on October 29, 2025 where she secured nearly 98% of the vote President Samia named Wanu Hafidh Ameir, 43, as Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology. Ameir, who retained her Makunduchi parliamentary seat under the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) banner, is the president’s daughter.
In a move intensifying the controversy, the president also appointed Ameir’s husband, Mohamed Mchengerwa, 46, as Minister of Health. Mchengerwa, MP for Rufiji Constituency, now joins the upper tier of the executive alongside his wife an arrangement that critics say turns the cabinet into a family enclave.
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The reshuffle also saw Ridhwani Kikwete, son of former President Jakaya Kikwete, appointed Minister of State in the Office of the President responsible for Public Service Management and Good Governance. He is the CCM MP for Chalinze, another influential coastal constituency.
The new cabinet includes 27 ministers and 29 deputies, while seven senior officials from the previous lineup among them former Energy Minister Doto Biteko and former Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe were dropped.
Khamis Mussa Omar will head the Finance Ministry, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo retains Foreign Affairs, Prof. Adolf Mkenda becomes the new Education Minister, and Daniel Chongolo takes over Agriculture. Judith Kapinga now leads the Trade and Industry docket.
But it is the elevation of the president’s own relatives that has triggered the loudest reactions, particularly online, where Tanzanians are openly questioning the administration’s commitment to meritocracy and accountability.
“If Africa is to move forward, we must dismantle political systems that allow families and friends to run countries as private enterprises,” wrote user @samkukujames in a widely shared post.
Another user, @tintin_andy, dismissed the appointments bluntly: “Nepotism ija will always win.”
Commentator @jbsentongo compared the developments to Uganda’s political landscape: “She’s not reinventing the wheel just following Museveni’s footsteps,” he posted, suggesting a drift toward hereditary governance.
A more scathing critique came from Kenya’s Kongamano La Mapinduzi movement, which warned that the appointments represent a dangerous erosion of democratic oversight: “When public offices become extensions of family networks, the line between service and self-interest blurs… Our countries are becoming a family affair.”
Others expressed alarm that such patterns could entrench unaccountable leadership for years. User @Kaiser421170309 wrote: “A country of almost 70 million people, and this is what we get? Tanzania has become a family affair.”
While CCM officials have defended the appointments as legal and based on experience, the growing backlash signals a deeper crisis of trust between the government and its citizens one that threatens to overshadow the president’s sweeping reforms and regional diplomatic profile.
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