List of heads of government of Zanzibar

This is a list of the heads of government of Zanzibar, an semi-autonomous region of Tanzania. The office of Chief Minister (later changed to Prime Minister) was established in 1961 and abolished in 2010, having been previously abolished between 1964 and 1983.

List of officeholders

Political parties

  Coalition government (ZPPP + ZNP)

  Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP)

  Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)

Other factions

  Independent

Status

  Denotes acting chief minister

Chief ministers of the Sultanate of Zanzibar

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Sultan(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
style="background:Template:Party color; color:black;"| –	File:No image.png	Geoffrey Charles Lawrence (1915–1994)	23 February 1961	5 June 1961	Template:Ayd	Independent	Abdullah
1	File:No image.png	Muhammad Shamte Hamadi (1907–aft. 1964)	5 June 1961	24 June 1963	Template:Ayd	Coalition (ZPPP + ZNP)

Prime minister of the Sultanate of Zanzibar

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Sultan(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:No image.png	Muhammad Shamte Hamadi (1907–aft. 1964)	24 June 1963	12 January 1964 (deposed.)	Template:Ayd	Coalition (ZPPP + ZNP)	Abdullah Jamshid

Prime minister of the People's Republic of Zanzibar

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	President(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 1	File:No image.png	Abdullah Kassim Hanga (1932–1969)	12 January 1964	27 April 1964	Template:Ayd	ASP	A. Karume

Chief ministers of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	President(s)
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Post abolished (27 April 1964 – 21 February 1983)
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 1	File:No image.png	Ramadani Baki (born 1943)	21 February 1983	6 February 1984	Template:Ayd	CCM	Jumbe Mwinyi
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 2	File:Seif Sharif Hamad.jpg	Seif Sharif Hamad (1943–2021)	6 February 1984	22 January 1988	Template:Ayd	CCM	Mwinyi Wakil
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 3	File:No image.png	Omar Ali Juma (1941–2001)	25 January 1988	1 November 1995	Template:Ayd	CCM	Wakil Amour
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 4	File:Mohamed Gharib Bilal.jpg	Mohamed Gharib Bilal (born 1945)	1 November 1995	15 November 2000	Template:Ayd	CCM	Amour A. A. Karume
style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"| 5	File:No image.png	Shamsi Vuai Nahodha (born 1962)	15 November 2000	9 November 2010	Template:Ayd	CCM	Karume Shein
Post abolished (9 November 2010 – present)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:21 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:120 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today = 24/12/2025

Colors =

 id:independent value:rgb(0.710,0.710,0.710) legend:None_(Independent)
 id:coalition   value:rgb(0,0,1)             legend:Coalition_government
 id:asp         value:rgb(0,0,0)             legend:Afro-Shirazi_Party
 id:ccm         value:rgb(0,0.60,0.4)        legend:Chama_Cha_Mapinduzi

 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1961 till:01/01/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1965 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1961

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData =

 pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"Political party:"

BarData =

bar:Lawrence
bar:Hamadi
bar:Hanga
bar:Baki
bar:Hamad
bar:Juma
bar:Bilal
bar:Nahodha

PlotData =

 width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Lawrence
 from: 23/02/1961 till: 05/06/1961 color:independent text:"Geoffrey Charles Lawrence (acting)"
bar:Hamadi
 from: 05/06/1961 till: 12/01/1964 color:coalition   text:"Muhammad Shamte Hamadi"
bar:Hanga
 from: 12/01/1964 till: 27/04/1964 color:asp         text:"Abdullah Kassim Hanga"
bar:Baki
 from: 21/02/1983 till: 06/02/1984 color:ccm         text:"Ramadani Baki"
bar:Hamad
 from: 06/02/1984 till: 22/01/1988 color:ccm         text:"Seif Sharif Hamad"
bar:Juma
 from: 25/01/1988 till: 01/11/1995 color:ccm         text:"Omar Ali Juma"
bar:Bilal
 from: 01/11/1995 till: 15/11/2000 color:ccm         text:"Mohamed Gharib Bilal"
bar:Nahodha
 from: 15/11/2000 till: 09/11/2010 color:ccm         text:"Shamsi Vuai Nahodha"

</timeline>

See also

File:Chief Minister's Office, Chake Chake, Pemba Island, Tanzania.jpg

The Chief Minister's Office in Chake-Chake, Pemba Island

• Politics of Tanzania
• List of governors of Tanganyika
• President of Tanzania
  • List of heads of state of Tanzania
• Vice-President of Tanzania
• Prime Minister of Tanzania
  • List of prime ministers of Tanzania
• List of sultans of Zanzibar
• President of Zanzibar
• Vice President of Zanzibar

External links

• World Statesmen - Zanzibar