Tanzanian MPs have elected Dr. Tulia Ackson as their new parliamentary speaker.
The vote took place after her predecessor Job Ndugai resigned following a fallout with President Samia Suluhu in which he made remarks about the country's borrowing that angered the president.
Dr. Ackson, who had been deputising in the role, trounced eight other candidates in the vote and won by landslide with 376 votes. The parliament has 393 members.
She will be the second woman in Tanzania to serve the highest position in Tanzania's National Assembly; with the first woman being Anne Makinda who also served as Member of Parliament for Njombe.
Dr. Ackson pledged to restore public respect for the legislature as an independent pillar of the State and to ensure the fulfilment of its constitutional watchdog role over government performance, reports Tanzanian news outlet The Citizen.
She holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Cape Town and is an expert in social security law, labour law, wildlife management laws, trusts, probate and administration of estates law, project financing and mining law.
Dr. Ackson’s appointment is another milestone on Tanzania’s path towards equal gender participation in politics after swearing in the first female President Suluhu in 2021.