Hamisi Kigwangalla Biography – Life, Education, Career and More
Born August 7th, 1975, Hamisi A. Kigwangalla is a Tanzanian Chama Cha Mapinduzi politician and an MP representing the Nzega constituency since 2010.
Hamisi Kigwangalla Education and Early Life
Born August 7th 1975, Hamisi Kigwangalla’s father was a banker who worked for the National Bank of Commerce. His mom, Bagaile B. Lumola, was a retired employee of CCM and a primary school teacher in Nzega Ndogo Primary School located in Nzega town, where his dad was sent to launch a new branch of the National Bank of Commerce.
Hamisi Kigwangalla’s dad, Nasser M. Kigwangalla, is from a renowned Kimbu family from Goweko-Igalula, while his mom was the child of a Nyamwezi chief Lumola B. Mauli, who turned out to be a key figure in Hamisi Kigwangalla’s childhood after his parents’ divorce at a young age. His maternal granddad attended Tabora School, a few years ahead of Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere.
Hamisi Kigwangalla attended Shinyanga and Kigoma secondary schools before attending the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), where he bagged a degree in medicine. Subsequently, he had his postgraduate studies at the Royal Caroline Institute (MPH) and the Blekinge Institute of Technology (MBA). Currently, he is finalizing a Ph.D. thesis in Public Health (Health Economics and Health Systems) at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Career
Hamisi Kigwangalla is a member of the Tanzanian parliament representing the Nzega constituency area of the region of Tabora. He was initially elected in the national elections held on October 31st, 2010. Widespread criticism followed his selection by the national executive council of the ruling CCM to contest the election. They claimed Hamisi Kigwangalla came third in the primary election behind Mohammed Bashe (winner of the primary election), whose citizenship was unclear and Lucas L. Selelii, who came second in the primary and that he was favored because of his work with the country’s first lady’s charity organization, WAMA. However, Kigwangalla denied the rumor.
Immediately the CCM’s executive council nominated Hamisi Kigwangalla; the immigration police arrested him on allegations of not being a citizen of the country. This allegation became a central issue in the Tanzanian media. However, he was cleared after two days. Despite being cleared, he still faced vehement objections from the opposition candidates.
Despite the allegations and criticism against him, Hamisi Kigwangalla emerged the winner of the election. He was promoted in Tanzanian dailies, saying he plans to move a motion for the closure of the Golden Pride Gold mine. He noted that the mine located in Nzega and owned by Resolute Tanzania Limited is unproductive and offers no benefit to the immediate community and the country at large. He was elected to the parliament again in the October 2015 general elections on a Chama Cha Mapinduzi ticket.
Hamisi Kigwangalla vocally defended the Tanzanian government’s clampdown on LGBT rights under President Magufuli. In an interview with BuzzFeed News in April 2017, while serving as deputy health minister, he declared that he endorsed the use of anal examination to determine whether an individual had engaged in gay sex, even though medical experts widely consider this practice to be a human rights violation.
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