Wanu Hafidh Ameir: Meet Samia Suluhu’s daughter appointed to Tanzania’s cabinet
By Cynthia Lodite, November 18, 2025Wanu Hafidh Ameir is a Tanzanian Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Party politician and serves as a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives in the National Assembly of Tanzania.
Wanu Hafidha has served in the National Assembly of Tanzania since 2005, while representing Zanzibar.
She retained her parliamentary seat in the October 29, 2025, general election under the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ticket, which also sponsored her mother’s presidential bid.
Wanu Hafidh Ameir is a lawyer by profession with a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the Open University of Tanzania.
Worth noting, Wanu, who is 43, was born on February 9, 1982, in the Unguja South area of Tanzania to the current President, Samia Suluhu, and husband, Afidh Ameir.
Notably, Wanu Hafidh Ameir is the eldest child of Tanzanian 6th President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her husband, Hafidh Ameir.
She has three brothers, making her the only daughter in the family. While Wanu’s political career has brought her into the public eye, her siblings maintain a relatively low profile.
Wanu is married to Mohamed Mchengerwa, a fellow member of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
Mchengerwa, 46, is also the Member of Parliament for the Rufiji Constituency in the country’s eastern Pwani Region.
He had been a member of the Tanzanian Cabinet and a minister in the president’s office until the recent Cabinet reshuffle and was appointed as the minister of health in Tanzania.
Wanu’s Foundation contribution
Wanu is also the foundation chair of the Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation, a registered non-government organisation that works to develop and create a national framework for dialogue, networking, information, and skills exchange regarding women, youth, and children’s welfare in health, education, and socio-economic dimensions.
The foundation strives to translate global strategies on these sub-populations into strategic actions.
She is also the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Mwanamke Initiatives Foundation, which oversees all matters related to the Foundation, including financial management and control, program planning, development and implementation, human resource management, networking and partner engagement, resource mobilisation and representing the foundation in public speaking and communication.
Wanu appointment to mother’s Cabinet
Samia Suluhu Hassan recently appointed her daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, as Deputy Minister of Education and her son-in-law, Mohammed Mchengerwa, as Minister of Health.
Announcing the new cabinet on Monday, November 17, 2025, at the State House in Dodoma, the Tanzanian leader’s cabinet reshuffle stirred debates online.
In the same reshuffle, former President Jakaya Kikwete’s son, Ridhiwani Kikwete, was appointed Minister for Governance, further expanding the list of politically connected family members elevated to senior government roles.
The appointments come just days after President Samia was declared the winner of Tanzania’s disputed election with 97.66 per cent of the vote — a result opponents decried as uncompetitive after leading challengers were barred from the race.
Receiving her certificate of victory in Dodoma, the president defended her mandate even as critics accuse her administration of nepotism, intolerance of dissent, and centralising authority within the ruling establishment.