AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT Hussein Mwinyi has promised to continue appointing women to various leadership positions provided they have unquestionable integrity, competence and required education level.
In an interview recently, the Head of State revealed that whenever he assigned a woman to any leadership role what mattered most was her ability to deliver.
He noted that though he was determined to ensure that there was the representation of women in a number of posts in the government, such posts would not be distributed without considering one’s commitment, skills and experience.
“Empowering women was one of my pledges when I was campaigning for presidency for they are our loyal voters. I am very careful when it comes to making appointments. I always include them based on the qualifications they have,” he said.
Dr Mwinyi added: “I picked a number of women to form my cabinet, some are permanent secretaries and the chief secretary is a woman…all appointments were carefully done, they are all qualified and I will continue appointing more and working with them.”
President Mwinyi appointed Ms Zena Ahmed Said on December 31, 2020 to become Secretary of the Revolutionary Council and Chief Secretary, replacing Dr Abdulhamid Yahya, who retired from public service. She becomes the first woman to hold the position.
Before her new post, Ms Zena served as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy in Mainland Tanzania.
Dr Mwinyi noted that it was fortunate that the chief secretary was a woman, however, what pushed him to appoint her was not her gender, instead, her appointment was based on her experience, credentials and education level.
