Tanzania's first woman president slammed for offensive remarks on women footballers

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has drawn flak for shameful remarks objectifying the country’s women footballers, wherein she described them as having “flat-chests” and also being unattractive for marriage. As per reports, Hassan made the remarks while hosting the Tanzania’s men's football under-23 team at State House in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam. The 61-year-old is the country’s first woman head of state. Previously, in an interview with BBC, she even expressed that people doubted her becoming the president because of her gender. 

However, she recently said, “If we bring them here and line them up, for those with flat-chests, you might think they are men - not women.” Hassan also said that even though some of the women were married, most of them were not “and for the way they are, a life of marriage… is a just a dream". 

As per Business Ghana, further, in her speech, she also said that sportspeople had challenging lives after their careers while also asking the authorities to ensure that they were taken care of after retirement. Hassan reportedly even noted that it was specifically hard for women “where their legs are tired when they have retired from the sport.” Hassan became the Tanzanian President in March after replacing John Magufuli.

Hassan criticised for her remarks

Following her remarks while hosting the under-23 men’s football team at State House, Hassan drew severe backlash, with Catherine Ruge, head of the women's wing of the opposition Chadema party and a former MP saying, “The comment by president @SuluhuSamia on women footballers is a humiliation to all women.” Gender and mental health researcher with username @Sajokm said on social media that she was "shocked". Another user wrote, “Where are the rights of our women? Mama [Samia] encourage our African women to excel in what they are good at.” Earlier, in an interview with the British media outlet, Hassan had said that some people doubted if she could become the president due to her gender. She said, “Even some of my government workers dismissed me at first as just another woman.”

IMAGE: AP