Tanzanian President sacks deputy Foreign minister

Posted on by Kelvin Funkeye

Tanzanian President John Magufuli has sacked Susan Kolimba from her post as the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation.

A statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication confirmed that Dr Damas Ndumbalo took over from Wednesday.

“NO BAD FEELINGS”

Dr Kolimba said she does not have bad feelings following the president’s decision.

Speaking to The Citizen on Wednesday, she described the decision as a “marathon relay”, which demands a leader’s readiness to hand over responsibilities to others, following decisions by appointing authorities.

“What you are supposed to do is to serve with all your effort once you are in office and leave the position to someone else when the appointing authority decides so,” she said in a telephone interview.

She noted that she will continue serving Tanzanians by promoting economic development and social welfare as a Special Seats’ Member of Parliament.

Regarding a possible reason for the president’s decision, Dr Kolimba said only the appointing authority knows why the change was necessary.

The change was announced while she was in Arusha for a meeting of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala).

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A statement issued by State House Director of Communication, Mr Gerson Msigwa, said the president also appointed Dr Fariji Kasidi Mnyepe as the permanent secretary of the ministry.

Dr Mnyape replaces Professor Adolf Mkenda who has been transferred to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

Prof Mkenda replaces Major General Gaudence Milanzi who has retired from public service.

EDUCATION

Dr Kolimba was born on December 8, 1964.

She completed her education at Kibosho Girls Secondary School in 1982 and acquired a diploma at Marangu Teachers Training College in 1988 before embarking on a teaching job in secondary schools, where she served for three years.

Ms Kolimba acquired a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), a Master of Laws (LLM) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in law in 1996, 1998 and 2002 respectively, from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

She lectured at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) between 2005 and 2015, when she was appointed Special Seats MP.

She became the Dean of the Faculty of Law at OUT in 2010.