President of Tanzania

The President of the United Republic of Tanzania is the head of state and head of government 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 and [state funeral of John Magufuli|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.

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."

List

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.