Salma Kikwete Explained

Salma Kikwete
Order:4th
Term Label:In role
Office:First Lady of Tanzania
Term Start:21 December 2005
Term End:5 November 2015
President:Jakaya Kikwete
Predecessor:Anna Mkapa
Successor:Janeth Magufuli
Office2:First Lady of African Union
Term Start2:31 January 2008
Term End2:2 February 2009
President2:John Kufuor
Predecessor2:Theresa Kufuor
Successor2:Safia Farkash
Birth Date:30 November 1963
Nationality:Tanzanian
Party:CCM
Children:5
Residence:Msoga, Tanzania
Profession:Teacher

Salma Kikwete (born 30 November 1963) is a Tanzanian educator, activist, and politician who served as the First Lady of Tanzania from 2005 to 2015 as the wife of Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.[1]

Salma Kikwete originally worked as a teacher for more than twenty years.[1]

In 2005, the government launched a national campaign for voluntary HIV/AIDS testing in Dar es Salaam. Salma Kikwete and her husband were among the first in the country to be tested.[2] As of 2009, she was Vice President of the Eastern Region of the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA).[1] In 2012, the First Lady Salma Kikwete, former Botswana President Festus Mogae and ten other African figures partnered with UNESCO and UNAIDS to support the Eastern and Southern Africa Commitment on HIV Prevention and Sexual Health for Young People, which was launched in November 2011.[3]

Kikwete also founded the Wanawake na Maendeleo, or Women in Development (WAMA), a nonprofit which promotes development among women and children.[1]

Over a year after her husband left office, Salma Kikwete was appointed to a seat in the National Assembly by President John Magufuli on 1 March 2017.[4]

Notes and References

  1. News: Her Excellency Salma Kikwete. Jamaica Information Service. 2009-11-23. 2012-08-09. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120804002412/http://www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/tanzania-visit-09/first-lady-profile.html. 4 August 2012. dmy-all.
  2. News: Tanzanian leader takes Aids test . . 2007-07-14 . 2012-07-30.
  3. News: Leaders to lobby for HIV Prevention and Sexual Health for Youth in Eastern and Southern Africa . . 2012-06-27 . 2012-07-30.
  4. Esther Karin Mngodo, "The Salma Kikwete story", The Citizen, 3 March 2017.