A leader is summoned to the fore, by the needs of the time, 10 years from now we will be looking back on those days, and we would realize that we lived to witness one of the greatest speeches of President Samia in office. This is my candid and personal analysis of the President’s Speech delivered on October 14th 2025, Parliament House Dodoma.
Opening and Constitutional Mandate
The President begins by grounding her address in constitutional authority, invoking Article 91(1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, which obliges the Head of State to formally inaugurate Parliament. This framing establishes not only legal legitimacy but also the institutional continuity of the Tanzanian state.
Before proceeding to substantive issues, she invites a moment of national mourning for citizens who lost their lives in the unrest that occurred during the General Election of 29 October 2025. This act serves two strategic purposes: it acknowledges national grief, and it signals a leadership posture anchored in empathy and moral responsibility.
National Tragedy and the Quest for Accountability
The President expresses deep personal sorrow over the violence, extending condolences to bereaved families and prayers for the injured. She highlights that an Enquiry Commission has been established to investigate the origins and dynamics of the incident.
This moves functions as a political signal of transparency and institutional responsiveness, positioning the state as committed to truth-seeking, reconciliation, and corrective justice. The Commission’s findings, she implies, will inform a broader framework for dialogue and peacebuilding.
Parliamentary Leadership and Institutional Renewal
Turning to the leadership of the 13th Parliament, the President congratulates Hon. Mussa Azzan Zungu, newly elected Speaker, Hon. Daniel Baran Sillo, Deputy Speaker, and Hon. Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba, sworn in as Prime Minister earlier that morning.
She further commends Members of Parliament for earning the confidence of citizens. Her message underscores the magnitude of legislative responsibility: To embody public aspirations, conduct deliberations reflecting societal realities, and hold the Government accountable while safeguarding the national interest.
A Changed Legislature: Demography and Gender Transformation
The President notes that this Parliament represents a significant renewal:
- 56.7% of MPs are newcomers,
- 40.5% are women,
- Thirty-six women won constituency seats, compared to 21 in the previous Parliament.
She frames these statistics as evidence of democratic progress and the expanding political agency of women in Tanzania’s electoral landscape. It signals a structural shift in parliamentary representation.
The 2025 General Election and the Imperative of National Cohesion
She recounts that the General Election covering the Union Presidency, the Zanzibar Presidency, Members of Parliament, the House of Representatives, and Councilors was conducted nationwide on 29 October 2025, with millions of citizens participating.
Her emphasis now shifts to the post-election mandate: national unity, cohesion, and collective responsibility to protect and elevate the prestige of the Tanzanian nation. She praises citizens for participating at every stage, from registration to voting, and underscores a democratic principle: elections remain the safest and most legitimate mechanism for leadership renewal.
Confronting Post-Election Violence
Despite procedural improvements, violence erupted in several areas, causing deaths, injuries, and property destruction. The President appeals for a national ethos grounded in dialogue, inclusivity, self-reflection, and unity.
Direct Appeal to the Youth: Preventing Radicalization
Her message becomes more pastoral in chief, and urgent as she addresses the youth:
She reminds young Tanzanians that the country’s stability was built through restraint and discipline. She warns against being drawn into violence or destructive mobilization, metaphorically urging them not to “cut the branch on which they sit.”
For youth charged with treasonous offences many allegedly swept up unknowingly she instructs prosecutorial authorities to review cases and pardon those whose involvement was incidental rather than intentional. She anchors this clemency in scripture (Luke 23:34), creating moral legitimacy for restorative justice.
Reimagining Tanzania: Governance, Growth, and Generational Renewal.
I have never been a drafter of vital speeches, but I have done speech writing, for many offices in my experience. President Samia’s Speech in parliament is a call to restore Tanzania dignity. It is with immense humility, I believe it will be taken by the Public, in which she leads, and the rest of the world whose diplomacy in its nobility and excellency calls her “Chief of State”. In other words if dialogue has to be restored, hearts heal, and political freedoms expressed, now is the time to put aside our differences, now is the time to agree on agreeable matters, and to disagree where we have to disagree.
WE THE PEOPLE(capital letters, used emphasis is mine) do not expect to be pushed to extremism on social media by people who continue to soak hate, who continue to invoke division. In December 1969, John F. Kennedy used these famous words to recalibrate the space race, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills…
Not Because They are Easy, But Because they are Hard. While Enlighted beings had crossed over into space, Kennedy’s quote is reflective in our affairs. We should reconcile as a nation, we should move on as country, we should forgive each other, respect our leaders, have tolerance for what happened, not because all these things are easy, but because they are hard. Because our goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, when our peace is tested. I believe we can and we should, as I do this analysis of our President’s speech, am not in any case asking you to support me, or agree with my perspective, but I fervently hope that it is imperative for this nation to move forward to understand the vision of our President. If Justice has to be done and seen to be done, dialogue is essential.
In the moral authority, with both Empathy and strategic clarity, the president took a moment of silence, to acknowledge the grief of families affected by the unrest during the election. In this way, she framed governance as a moral covenant, Civis dignatas ex pax, in other words citizen dignity and peace. A promise of protection, opportunity, and the new hope for all citizens, including the president as the head of State. By blending heartfelt acknowledgement with actionable policy, she set a tone that it is at once human, accountable, and visionary, signaling a new opening of leadership that is responsive yet resilient.
Central to the speech is the philosophy of “Kazi na Utu Work and Dignity”, which links citizen well-being with state performance. The President underscored that governance is not abstract; it is a daily contract, where officials at every level from ministers to local officers are accountable to the people. Quick-win measures, including the recruitment of 7,000 teachers and 5,000 health professionals, exemplify tangible steps to rebuild public trust, demonstrating that the state is both capable and present in citizens’ lives.
Equally notable is her commitment to reconciliation and constitutional renewal. The proposed Reconciliation and Mediation Commission illustrates a leadership style grounded in learning from conflict Experientia Docet which means experience teaches. A time to reinforce Tanzania’s democratic maturity. By embedding dialogue into governance, the President signals that Tanzania’s democracy is adaptive, self-correcting, and inclusive, setting a precedent for African states navigating post-electoral challenges.
In the cause of Prudentia est Potentia¸ in other words Prudence is Power. It is the beginning of a new history, for those historians who want to understand the speech, the Latin maxim is for intellectual legal minds and noble diplomats who the Daily News is their favorite paper.
Each speech writer is a master of his craft. But this analysis is to delve into what it also demonstrates the tolls and tribulations of the mind when analysis a president’s address, especially key note address. Here we find the typical Presidential Prudence in Power, in other words the three P’s, or President Samia’s triple P.
The speech also demonstrates strategic economic thinking. Price stabilization, industrial incentives, and support for domestic private enterprise reflect an understanding that economic growth must be both inclusive and sustainable. Integration of youth and women entrepreneurs into investment schemes, alongside digital procurement reforms, ensures that growth translates into opportunity for citizens, not just capital accumulation. Fiscal prudence is evident in leveraging mineral resources for investment rather than external debt, reflecting a mature developmental state philosophy prudentia est potentia (prudence is power).
Tanzania’s demographic realities are at the heart of this vision. With over 60% of the population under 35, the President positions youth as the operating system of national progress. Vocational reforms, mentorship initiatives, and youth-targeted investment windows transform young citizens from passive beneficiaries into job creators and innovators fortes fortuna adiuvat (fortune favors the brave) aligning human capital development with national infrastructure priorities like the SGR, ports, and the blue economy.
The President situates all policy within a framework of ethical governance and social equity. Municipal loan funds are framed as capital, not charity, emphasizing responsibility and productivity. Health and education reforms are universal in scope, aiming to enhance dignity and equal access. Across the speech, there is a consistent thread: growth, governance, and social cohesion are mutually reinforcing, not separate agendas.
For diplomats, investors, and global policy analysts, the address signals a politically mature, economically strategic, and socially conscious Tanzania. It communicates a country capable of navigating challenges without external imposition, and of integrating reconciliation, economic modernization, and generational empowerment into a coherent, actionable plan.
In sum, this speech is more than a ceremonial address; it is a blueprint for a 21st-century African developmental state. It is empathetic yet disciplined, visionary yet grounded, and inclusive yet strategic. Through Kazi na Utu, Tanzania is poised not just to recover from immediate political tensions, but to redefine its governance, economy, and societal contract in other ad astra per aspera which means to the stars through difficulties creating a nation that is capable, just, and humane.
Edward De Seve’s The Presidential Appointee’s Handbook, calls on presidential appointees to have factual informed behavior, when he writes “this book seeks to help you change your behavior by providing information you might need to serve the president and the nation”, As I did this analysis, my wish is to see those in power to get results, results that are their own accountability, and results that the president has promised the Tanzanian people, and results which the Tanzanian people expect.;
Novatus IGOSHA is an advocate of the high court of Tanzania and International affairs columnist. He also works with national television TBC1 as a consultant political analyst and CGTN on Talk Africa Programme as International affairs analyst. An alumnus of Rashtriya Raksha University India under ITEC programme fundamentals of International law.
Email: Norvum728@gmail.com
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