Zungu: From aircraft engineering to Assembly Speaker

DODOMA: TANZANIA, has today revealed a new Speaker for the National Assembly, Mussa Azzan Zungu, who was elected by about 378 lawmakers in Dodoma.

The veteran politician of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has served in Parliament for 20 consecutive years and earned great respect for his extensive experience in parliamentary affairs and public service.

Born on May 25, 1952, he began his primary education at St. Joseph School from 1958 to 1965 and took his secondary education at the Kinondoni Secondary School in 1966 to 1968, and his higher-level education at the Tambaza Secondary School from 1968 to 1969.

After completing his secondary education, Mr Zungu advanced his studies in the field of aircraft engineering, receiving training at the Military College of Aviation (Tanzania/Canada) between 1979 and 1982, where he qualified as a Principal Aircraft Maintenance Engineer before venturing into politics.

In his political career, the new Speaker has been a Member of the National Assembly since the early 2000s.

In the year 2012 to 2021, he served as the Chairperson of the Parliament, and from 2016 to 2025 he served as a Member of the Parliamentary Service Commission.

In 2022, he became the Deputy Speaker of the house, where he served till date before being elected as the Speaker of the 13th Parliament.

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One of the areas that made him qualify for the Speaker position, is him working with four different Speakers of Parliament, something which has given him vast administrative and legislative experience.

Moreover, he has participated in parliamentary study visits in more than 23 countries, gaining a broad understanding of legislative systems around the world.

While in the Parliament, he also chaired the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Security for over 16 years.

At the international level, he has represented the Tanzanian Parliament in meetings of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) as well as the European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

He has also served as a leader of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA – Tanzania Branch) and represented it in various international forums.

In the government, he has served as the Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union and Environment).