Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has nominated 63 year old Finance minister Phillip Mpango, as the new Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
His name has been submitted to the parliament for approval. The country’s constitution says the Vice President has to be approved by at least 50 percent of the parliamentarians. The Vice President’s position is expected to be filled within 14 days of it being vacant.
The VP position was left vacant after Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn-in as President following the death of President John Pombe Magufuli. President Suluhu took her oath of office on March 19.
Until his nomination, Mpango was the Minister for Finance and Planning of Tanzania, and has been in office since November 2015.
Mpango previously held positions as the Acting Commissioner General of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the Executive Secretary in the President’s Office (Planning Commission), the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Personal Assistant to the President on Economic Affairs.
He has also worked as the head of the President’s Economic Advisory Unit, senior economist for the World Bank, visiting lecturer in Public Economics, Collaborative Masters programme for Anglo-phone Africa, AERC, Nairobi-Kenya, and lecturer, Economics Department at the University of Dar es Salaam.
