Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has appointed the country’s ambassador to China, Khamis Mussa Omar, as the new Minister of Finance, following last month’s disputed general election.
In a televised announcement on Monday, Hassan unveiled changes to her cabinet, confirming that Anthony Mavunde will remain Minister of Mining, while Mahmoud Thabit Kombo retains his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The reshuffle comes days after Hassan named former finance minister Mwigulu Nchemba as the country’s new prime minister.
Hassan was declared the overwhelming winner of the October election, a vote overshadowed by violent clashes between security forces and opposition supporters after key challengers were barred from contesting. Rights groups and opposition parties have alleged that hundreds were killed in the unrest — claims the government has dismissed as exaggerated.
The president has pledged to investigate the electoral violence and, on Friday, offered condolences to families who lost loved ones, marking her most direct acknowledgment yet of the crisis, considered the nation’s most serious political turmoil in decades.
