Agricultural officer and academic who remained largely out of public life as his wife, Samia Suluhu Hassan, rose to the presidency

 

 

Hafidh Ameir Hassan, the husband of Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has died while receiving treatment for a heart condition in Zanzibar.

 

Ameir died at 8am on Monday, 7 September, according to Tanzania’s vice-president, Deogratius Ndejembi, who announced his death.

 

“It is with great sadness that I inform you of the death of Mr Hafidh Ameir Hassan, husband of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan,” Ndejembi said.

 

Funeral arrangements were under way in Kizimkazi, the village in Zanzibar where Samia was born.

 

They married in 1978 and had four children, three sons and a daughter.

 

Ameir worked as an agricultural officer and was also described as an agricultural academic. He did not build a public career in politics, but when Samia became president in March 2021 after the death of John Magufuli, he became Tanzania’s first First Gentleman.

 

Ameir maintained a low public profile and rarely appeared alongside his wife at official functions.

 

Samia had taken a very different path. Born in Kizimkazi in 1960, she began her working life as a government clerk before entering public service and later politics. She served in the Zanzibar House of Representatives, became a member of the Union parliament and held ministerial positions before being appointed vice-president in 2015.

 

When Magufuli died in March 2021, Samia was sworn in as president, becoming Tanzania’s first woman to hold the office.

 

Her husband’s new position attracted attention because no man had previously occupied the role of presidential spouse. But Ameir remained a familiar figure mainly to those around the president rather than to the wider public.

 

The couple’s four children included Wanu Hafidh Ameir, who followed her mother into public life and is a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives.

 

President William Ruto expressed his condolences to Samia, her family and the people of Tanzania.

 

“I have received with deep sorrow the news of the passing of Hafidh Ameir Hassan, husband of Her Excellency Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania,” Ruto said.

 

“President Samia has lost a lifelong companion, her children a beloved father, and Tanzania a distinguished son,” he said. “Kenya stands with our Tanzanian brothers and sisters in this moment of grief.”