Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania is on the The 100 Most Influential People of 2022 list compiled by the American magazine Time.
President Hassan is on Time 100 along with global leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The list, which was unveiled on Tuesday May 24, has been divided into six major categories, namely Leader, Titan, Pioneer, Artist, Icon and Innovator.
Other than President Hassan, the only other African leader on the list is Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Eulogising President Hassan, Ms Ellen Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said: “President Samia Suluhu Hassan took office in March 2021, and her leadership has been a tonic.”
She added that the Tanzanian Head of State had made a huge difference just within a year since she took office.
Ms Hassan ascended to the highest office in the land on March 19, 2021 following the death of her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, and became Tanzania’s first female president. She is currently the only woman head of state in Africa.
Ms Sirleaf said President Hassan was now a role model for women and girls across the world.
She added that President Hassan had, among other achievements, managed to open a door for dialogue between political rivals, trust in the democratic system has been rebuilt under her watch, and more efforts made towards press freedom.
Ms Sirleaf recalled the landmark speech President Hassan delivered to the UN General Assembly, saying: “…as only the fifth African woman leader ever to address the UN General Assembly, she stood on the spot where I stood.”
She repeated part of President Hassan’s historic speech: “As the first female President in the history of my country, the burden of expectation to deliver gender equality is heavy on my shoulders.”
As President Hassan spoke these powerful words, Ms Sirleaf recalled: “I couldn’t help but think how strong the shoulders of women leaders are and how much they can make a difference.”
It is the first time that a Tanzanian head of state has been included in Time 100.
Other leaders on the 2022 list include Mia Mottley, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ketan Jackson, Joe Rogan, Ursula von der Leyen, Ron DeSantis, and Yoon Suk-yeol.
The list also has Olafa Scholz, Kelvin McCarthy, Karuna Nundy, Abiy Ahmed, Kyrsten Sinema, Gabriel Boric, Khurram Parvez, Letitia James, Valeriry Zaluzhnyy, Lynn Fitch, Umar Ata Bandial, and Sun Chunlan.
Time 100 was first published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, and is now a highly publicised annual event.
It is said that appearing on the list is often seen as an honour, and the magazine has made it clear that entrants are recognised for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.
The final list of influential individuals is exclusively chosen by Time editors, with nominations coming from the Time 100 alumni and the magazine’s international writing staff. And only the winner of the Reader’s Poll, conducted days before the official list is revealed, is chosen by the general public.
The Citizen
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