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President Jakaya Kikwete
There are indications that the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi's concept to clean-up all its ranks by uprooting leaders accused of corruption, looks to face a fresh internal fierce challenge and unprecedented perplexity as a number of regional secretaries are reported to opposed to the move, ahead of the National Executive Committee meeting towards the end of the month.
The matter is said to have been strongly debated during a two-day meeting held at the party sub-head office along Lumumba Street in Dar es Salaam early this week.
Chaired by party secretary general Wilson Mukama and dubbed as an ‘executive meeting,' reports from various secretariat departments were tabled. The sitting was preceded by a conclave of regional chairmen in what seemed to be a strategy to gauge the actual political situation and project the picture for the delicate NEC meeting due for Dodoma.
A delegate at the meeting, with which secretaries of the party's wings of youth (UVCCM), women (UWT) and parents were associated, told The Guardian on Sunday that there was a good number of delegates opposing the move, as they sensed risk over party unity.
"We told the secretary general that there is more loss than gain in the implementation of the clean-up concept as there has been misleading utterances widening rifts within the party," said the delegate who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.
An official announcement of the CCM campaign to ‘shed its skin' was made by party chairman Jakaya Kikwete in
April. He revamped the secretariat and placed publicity secretary Nape Nnauye in charge of the drive.
It was explained that it was an effort to regain the party's ‘lost glory' before the public, before and in the aftermath of the 2010 general elections. There has since then been an open outcry from three big shots whom the media and politicians point a finger as enmeshed in a web of corruption which has tainted the party's image.
They argue that the ‘shedding skin' campaign was brought up to suit the interests of a section of the top party leadership.
The leaders, purported to be source of a series of defeats of CCM candidates in urban parliamentary constituencies in particular. They also see the shift from 80 per cent CCM margin in the presidential vote in 2005 and 61.5 per cent in last year's vote as due to decline of popularity arising from the three suspects of corruption.
The three were thus being shouted at during the campaign to relinquish their party positions or risk being showed the exit door, namely Rostam Aziz, Edward Lowassa and Andrew Chenge, also branded as ‘triplets.'
Despite the popularised twisting of the concept of skin-shedding, the secretary general of the CCM youth wing, Martin Shighela told The Gurdian on Sunday in an interview that any blame on the implementation of the concept as and other allegations against the implementers had no basis since the body with powers to question such implementations was yet to gather.
‘It is useless to say a certain leader has twisted the clean-up concept. Let us wait for NEC meeting to establish who is right or wrong since more utterances outside the meeting may bring more confusion,' elaborated Shighela.
In a confident manner Shighela intoned: "The NEC decision was expressly clear that any leader or member accused of violating ethics principles should voluntarily consider and relinquish party positions, short of which the party would act hard on them.
What I know is that at the meeting it will be askedhow this agenda has been implemented, the reply will simple: our NEC member and Igunga legislator resigned, then the by-election was held and CCM won.
Others are yet to act in line with the party's directives; nothing else really."The youth wing chief executive noted that although there are kingpins at the centre of allegations which have led to the party's diminishing popularity, it was prudent to have the clean-up applied at all levels so as to restore public confidence.
The Igunga by-election was held following the Rostam Aziz resignation in July, saying that his move was self driven but accusing some secretariat heads, like publicity secretary Nape Nnauye and deputy secretary general (Mainland) John Chiligati of misleading the public, wrongly mentioning his (Aziz) name as the accused – contrary to NEC decisions.
Shighela says however, that regardless of what may be uttered, the key fact stands that Rostam Aziz resigned after CCM had gave directives in regard to all accused of malpractices.
Two other key figures who are yet to heed the party's call are former Prime Minister and Monduli MP Edward Lowassa and Andrew Chenge, former Attorney General also MP for Bariadi West.
Whereas Lowassa was accused of playing an influential role in awarding the controversial emergency power generation tender to the Richmond Development Company in 2005 and eventually costing him the premiership in February 2008, Chenge was officially reported to have benefitted financially from the 1999 controversial radar purchase deal from the UK BAE Systems.
It was sold at a at a hiked price of 40 million sterling pounds instead of a market value of 12 million pounds. The difference would be paid directly to the Tanzania government following a court ruling in London.
Article 107 (8) of CCM constitution states one of NEC's areas of authority as: ‘To maintain monitoring over practices of members and leaders of CCM and where it is established that behavior of a certain member disqualifies that member from membership or leadership it will have powers to strip membership or leadership position held by such a person.
At a post CC press briefing in Dodoma in July, Nape Nnauye said CCM was determined to ensure the resignation of accused, insisting that nobody was more popular than CCM.
He said the party was ready to battle it out in the by- elections, denying reports that CCM could not take action as it feared losing constituencies through by-elections.
Edward Lowassa is believed to be influential within the part as he enjoys enormous support among delegates at decisions making bodies especially NEC.
The party vice chairman (Mainland) Pius Msekwa remarked to the media during the regional chairs meeting early this week that the clean-up concept and the 2010 voting primaries had affected the party's cohesiveness.
His remarks were taken to be an indication that even CCM top brass are confused as to whether what was deliberated last April should be executed or other alternatives should be looked into so as to avoid deepening the already existing rifts.
By Florian Kaijage, The Guardian
