Ali Hassan Mwinyi

Ali Hassan Mwinyi (born May 8, 1925, on the island of Zanzibar) was the president of the United Republic of Tanzania from 1985 to 1995. Previous posts include Interior Minister and Vice President.

During Mwinyi's terms Tanzania took the first steps to reverse the socialist policies of Julius Nyerere. He relaxed import restrictions and encouraged private enterprise. It was during his second term that multi-party politics were introduced under pressure from foreign donors.

Even though Mwinyi's free-market policies had some success, he was widely critized for the high degree of corruption and wide-spread tax evasion that flourished during his term.

In retirement, Mwinyi has stayed out of the limelight and continues to live in Dar es Salaam. Many argue that during Mwinyi's tenure the country did not have a proper and disciplined money policy. Hence inflation was rampant and people were deceived by the overflow of money whose value was deteriorating day by day.