[TABLE="class: contentpaneopen"]
[TR]
[TD="class: createdate"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam.The opposition Civic United Front (CUF) suffered another blow yesterday, when two members of the National Leadership Council withdrew their party membership.
Addressing reporters yesterday, the duo ‑ Abubakari Rakesh and Juma Killaghai attributed their decision to the partys lack of vision, adding that the director of Youth Secretariat, Mr Omary Constantine, had also made a similar decision.
The defections have become a trend since the party expelled the Wawi MP, Mr Hamad Rashid Mohammed, on allegations of sabotage.
But in a rejoinder yesterday, CUF deputy secretary general (Mainland), Mr Julius Mtatiro, said it was not a surprise for the three to leave the party because they were open supporters of Mr Hamad Rashid.
They were in a technical committee of Mr Rashid which sought to weaken the party, its better that they have left because they had nothing to offer for the partys wellbeing, he said.
However, Mr Rakesh denied that their move is connected to the expulsion of Mr Hamad Rashid. He said their decision was also based on the fact that the party had continued to embrace autocracy whereby all important decisions were being made by a single individual.
The party is run on a one- man show basis; members dont have freedom to oppose the secretary general, Maalim Seif, he said.
But Mr Mtatiro dismissed the statement, saying the decision to oust Mr Hamad was made through votes cast by members of the National Leadership Council.
And Mr Killaghai conceded yesterday that: We are the two people who voted against the decision to expel Mr Hamad.
Mr Killaghai said during the meeting which culminated in Mr Hamads expulsion, he had advised his colleagues not to do so, but pursue a conciliatory approach instead, warning that the envisaged move would split the party; which was what had now been happening.
Mr Rakesh claimed that the party was mismanaging funds, adding that the partys district offices on the Mainland had not received funds for their operations for over the past 15 months.
Mr Mtatiro conceded that the party had been experienced a financial crisis, but claimed that from last November, funds had been allocated to all its district offices.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]