He served as a minister for Home Affairs in President John Magufuli's cabinet for five months, from December 2015.

Legislator for Muleba North constituency since 2010, he served as the Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment in the fifth phase government, but on November 10, 2018, he was dismissed by President Magufuli on grounds of underperformance.

President Magufuli on July 2018 appointed him as Home Affairs Minister, but later on 23 January 2020 he kicked him out for occasioning the country a loss of 1tril/- in a dubious deal between the Fire and Rescue Brigade and a Romanian firm.

However, all was not lost to some of them, and as an old adage states, time and chance happens to all, and this has been evident in the past four and half years of President John Magufuli's administration, where we have witnessed some of the dismissed ministers bouncing back.

Mr George Simbachawene resigned as the Minister of State in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local government) in 2017 after he was adversely mentioned in reports compiled by a committee appointed by National Assembly Speaker, Job Ndugai to investigate the trade in diamonds and Tanzanite.