Women in Tanzanian Political History: A Case of Anne S.Makinda, 1949-2020
Authors: Mrumah Anagladness 
Published: August 2024

This article examines how women’s involvement in Tanzanian politics has been a catalyst for growth because women’s roles in leadership have historically been effective in societal development. However, the roles of Tanzanian women have been overlooked in historical documentation, something which is very important to be in written form, so that future generations can find good examples to emulate. The aim of writing this article was to show that a Tanzanian woman has been involved in political activities since long ago, on one hand, the leadership positions she once held, on the other hand her performance in leadership and her success. The study employed Historical Research Design.Data collected came from different sources which are Primary and Secondary Sources. Primary written information was obtained from the Tanzania National Archives (TNA) and East Africana Collections in Dar es Salaam such as: Speeches, Hansards, Reports and magazines. Secondary sources included; books, journal, articles, theses and dissertation from the universities of Saint Augustine-Mwanza and Dar es Salaam. oral interviews were conducted to the people who were linked to the topic such as Anne S. Makinda and her relatives in order to obtain the early life history based on research objective. The overall objective of the study was to examine the position of women in the political history of Tanzania and make a historical tour of Anne Makinda’s political roles from 1975 to 2020 to illustrate the case. The study uses gender theory to analyze the political history of Tanzanian women, in order to understand women’s performance in politics in more detail. The article revealed that, Anne succeeded in becoming a prominent leader because the education she received of her time had combined both theory and practice and fortunately, during her time students were involved in politics. This was for the case of TANU Youth League branch. Thistherefore kept her active and exemplary in women political history in Tanzania from early life and stood out as a tool, both national and international levels. Her practical success and good values constitute a history for Tanzanian women. The article is divided into five main parts. The first part is an introduction and the second one describes Anne Makinda’s political history. The third part highlights Anne Makinda’s role when she was in a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament from 1975 to 1983, the fourth part explains Minister of State, Information, and Broadcasting (1983-1990). The fifth part discusses her role in the Ministry of Community Development, Women, and Children (1990-1995), the sixth part explains her carrier as Regional Commissioner of Ruvuma and Member of Parliament in Southern Njombe (1995-2000), the seventh part describes her as a Deputy Speaker of Tanzania National Assembly (2005-2010), another part discuses her role when she was the Speaker of the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania (2010-2015). The other part points out Anne Makinda’s role internationally and the final part is the conclusion.