Polls deepen CCM divisions: analysts

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Supporters of rival factions within CCM's youth wing, UVCCM, clash outside the organisation's headquarters in Dar es Salaam yesterday. The UVCCM elections held recently in Dodoma were marred by allegations of bribery and vote buying. PHOTO | RAFAEL LUBAVA Polls deepen CCM divisions: analysts

Sunday, 28 October 2012 10:14

By The Citizen Reporters
 
Dodoma/Dar es Salaam. Prospects of CCM emerging united and stronger from its intra-party elections have been dashed, denying the ruling party the chance to heal internal rifts and address its image problem, some members and analysts have said. They said the on-going elections at the national level had deepened internal divisions and left the party split by groups positioning themselves for the succession battle in 2015, adding that the polls had exposed the damage being inflicted on CCM by the factions through vote buying. Democracy and leadership experts said the polls had exposed CCM's weakness in dealing with internal tensions and conflicts. And being the oldest and the ruling party, they noted, the situation did not augur well for the promotion of good governance and proper administration of the country. "To me the polls have weakened CCM instead of strengthening it. They have clearly widened the rifts within the party and exposed the infighting we have all along been hearing about. That is not good for the party itself and the country at large," the chairman of the Tanzania Constitutional Forum, Mr Deus Kibamba, said. He told The Citizen on Sunday yesterday that widespread bribery in the polls was alarming and compounded doubts about the party's ability to produce good leaders and fight corruption. Mr Kibamba said CCM had failed to use the polls to cleanse itself, address its image problems and prove its intention and willingness to reform and transform itself. Some of the party members who participated in the polls said the buying of votes during the party's women (UWT) and youth (UVCCM) wings had deepened divisions, which would take a long time to heal. Those who spoke to The Citizen on Sunday warned that the results, especially in the UVCCM elections, had given CCM's rivals plenty of ammunition in their endeavour to portray it as a corrupt party. "You can't embrace corruption within the party and expect to win the public trust in this era when people loathe the vice. CCM was supposed to lead by example in fighting corruption by ensuring that it vigorously fights it from within," said a UVCCM member on the sidelines of the wing's eighth national congress on Wednesday. Some UVCCM members have also expressed their fear on whether the party will be able to restore people's trust given massive corruption that was used to influence voters. The election results have amplified the rivalry between the factions and some of the losers in the UVCCM election have vowed to petition the CCM national chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete. Mr Jesse Mashimi, a consultant in leadership and management, warned that if corruption in polls was not timely addressed, it would lead to the country getting criminal leaders. He said it was ethically dangerous and a security risk to have top national leaders who have bribed their way to power. Commenting on these sentiments, CCM Publicity Secretary Nape Mnauye said it was premature to assess the polls and draw conclusions. Noting that CCM was an institution which does not operate basing on street talk, he said a good picture and the overall implications would only be obtained after all the intra-party polls at the national level have been completed. Among major outcomes, results of the UWT and UVCCM have shown that one has to be in the camp supporting the former Prime Minister, Mr Edward Lowassa, to be sure of victory. About 80 per cent of the new leaders of the two wings at the national level are said to be allied to Mr Lowassa, who also doubles as the Monduli MP and member of the CCM National Executive Committee (NEC). Although he has not publicly declared his intention, there are reports that Mr Lowassa would seek his party's nomination as presidential aspirant in the 2015 General Election and he is now forming a campaign team within the ruling party, which would ensure him victory. "We need to do something to control this situation. We are not against someone winning, but election regulations should back their victories. If we continue this trend of using money to get leaders, I am sure that we are clearing the way for Chadema (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo) to dislodge CCM from power in 2015," lamented Mr Abdallah Ally, a staunch UVCCM cadre also known as Malema. But one of Mr Lowassa's supporters, Mr Hussein Bashe, has denied accusations that the camp has been using bribes to woe voters in party elections. "One of serious issues which CCM is fighting is corruption. Therefore, if there is any member who has evidence that there are people within the party engaged in corrupt practices the person should help the party by reporting and tabling the evidence," he told The Citizen on Sunday.

 

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It`s silly to deny corruption exists within CCM leadership

By Editor

28th October 2012

Tanzanians are hearing a lot from mandarins within the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) right now. It isn't the first time, nor have we heard the last, from the party's palaver.
The ‘chatter box' was set off by Frederick Tluway Sumaye, a man now politically wounded by a woman of his own making, if the grapevine is to be believed.

Having lost his bid for a seat in the party's inner-circle National Executive Committee (NEC) in his native Hanang District to Mary Nagu, the man cried foul – saying his defeat had come at the altar of rampant graft within the ruling party.
Now that isn't news -- or is it? The defeat itself wouldn't make news if the loser were a common mortal like the rest of us; the man nursing the wounds of defeat is said to have his eyes set on the presidency come 2015 – even though he is quick to defend himself that his defeat would count for nothing if he threw in the gauntlet for the highest office in the land.
But that's beside the point; our attention is drawn to the current debate over open records revealing deepening rot within the party now holding the reins of power – the power not just to fight corruption within its own ranks but the potential power to also fight creeping corruption in our midst.

For the record, Fred had a point: some elements, many of them, within CCM are, indeed, the personification of corruption. In Nzega not so long ago, it led to a near shoot-out between contending men from the ruling in a NEC seat. We dare not conjure up what would have happened in Hanang if Mary Nagu were a man!
Open anger – and the near physical confrontation we witnessed in Nzega -- are but signs of a more serious illness eating at the core of public standing and integrity among those claiming to be leading us. As voters, we deserve better than the personal vendettas – and weeping -- we are witnessing from our leaders.
As a first step, we have to acknowledge we have a huge problem in our hands; the second, and more important step, we've to set out and deal with it squarely for the benefit of all. But what do we get from CCM?

It's quite easy to dismiss Sumaye's woes as the tantrums of a defeated man; it's quite another to look beyond that individual misfortune and accept the emerging larger picture looming on the horizons. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who holds the national CCM chair, warns that corruption is driving the ruling party into an abyss; we dare it's pulling everyone of us along, too!

While that remains clear, some mandarins within the ruling party now say there's nothing to report home about graft in CCM. It would be laughable if it weren't so silly. Yes, it's silly to pretend we don't have a huge problem in our hands!

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

 

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Itakuwa vizuri kama kinara wa rushwa ndani ya magamba fisadi Lowassa atatoa kauli kuhusiana na kushamiri kwa rushwa ndani ya magamba kuelekea 2015 ambako kwa kiasi kikubwa kumesababishwa na yeye fisadi Lowassa.

 

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Wanachama wa Umoja wa Vijana wa CCM (UV-CCM), wanaomuunga mkono Mwenyekiti mpya wa Taifa wa Umoja huo, Khamis Sadifa Juma na viongozi wenzake, wakimtwanga mmoja wa wanachama waliojitokeza kumpinga mwenyekiti huyo kwa mabango(wa pili kushoto), wakati alipowasili makao makuu ya umoja huo Dar es Salaam jana, akitokea mkoani Dodoma alipochaguliwa kushika nyadhifa hiyo. Picha na Rafael Lubava

 

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Mtikisiko CCM • Matokeo uchaguzi UVCCM, Waziri Nagu kufutwa na Mwandishi wetu Tanzania daima

HALI ndani ya Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) imezidi kuwa tete baada ya kuwapo mpango wa kutaka kufuta matokeo ya Jumuiya ya Umoja wa Vijana (UVCCM) kwa madai kuwa uchaguzi wake ulitawaliwa na rushwa kupita kiasi, Tanzania Daima Jumatano limebaini. Mbali ya matokeo ya UVCCM, duru za siasa kutoka ndani ya CCM, zinaeleza kuwa chama hicho pia kimepanga kufuta matokeo ya uchaguzi katika baadhi ya maeneo yaliyolalamikiwa kwa vitendo vya rushwa. Wilaya ya Hanang ambako kulikuwa na mnyukano mkali kati ya Waziri Mkuu Mstaafu, Frederick Sumaye na Waziri wa Nchi Ofisi ya Waziri Mkuu (Uwekezaji na Uwezeshaji), Dk. Mary Nagu, inaelezwa kuwa matokeo ya uchaguzi yaliyompa ushindi Dk. Nagu, yanaweza kufutwa. Sumaye ndiye kada wa kwanza wa CCM aliyejitokeza hadharani kulalamikia matumizi ya rushwa ya mtandao kwenye uchaguzi huo ambapo aliangukia pua. Mkakati wa kutaka kufuta matokeo ya uchaguzi wa UVCCM, unadaiwa kusukwa na mtoto wa kigogo wa chama hicho taifa. Kwa mujibu wa habari hizo, mtoto huyo alimpigia simu mmoja wa wagombea walioshindwa katika nafasi ya mwenyekiti kutoka Zanzibar na kumtaka aje jijini Dar es Salaam kwani Rais Jakaya Kikwete alitaka kuonana naye. Baada ya kuwasili jijini Dar es Salaam, kijana huyo alifikia katika Hoteli ya Bondeni na alipotaka kuonana na Rais Kikwete, aliambiwa yupo ziarani mkoani Kilimanjaro na kwamba amemwachia maagizo. Kwa mujibu wa habari hizo, maagizo yanayodaiwa kutoka kwa Rais Kikwete ni kumtaka kijana huyo kuandika barua ya malalamiko ya kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi wa UVCCM ili kuwa na msingi wa hoja ya kutaka kufuta matokeo hayo. Habari zinaeleza kuwa, kijana huyo aliandika barua hiyo ya malalamiko na kueleza sababu kubwa tatu za kutaka matokeo ya uchaguzi huo yafutwe. Sababu hizo ni pamoja na kukithiri kwa vitendo vya rushwa ya mtandao, matumizi mabaya ya madaraka ambapo Katibu Mkuu wa UVCCM, Martin Shigela, anadaiwa kutumia nafasi yake vibaya kumsaidia mgombea ashinde. Habari zinasema kuwa tayari barua hiyo imewasilishwa kwenye sekretarieti ya CCM kwa ajili ya uamuzi. Ukiachia mkakati huo wa kumtumia rais kutaka kufuta matokeo ya uchaguzi wa UVCCM, mkakati mwingine unasukwa na baadhi ya vigogo wa chama hicho ili kuionyesha jamii kwamba CCM imekerwa na rushwa. Mmoja kati ya vigogo wa chama hicho tawala, aliliambia gazeti hili kwamba ili kurejesha heshima ya chama, lazima baadhi ya matokeo ya uchaguzi wa jumuiya za chama na zile za mikoani na wilayani kulikokuwa na malalamiko ya rushwa, yafutwe. "Safari hii rushwa ilitumika vibaya sana kiasi cha kukitia aibu chama chetu. Namna bora ya kurejesha imani hiyo ni kufuta baadhi ya matokeo ya jumuiya, mikoa na wilaya, vinginevyo tutakuwa na wakati mgumu sana," alisema mtoa habari wetu. Katibu wa Itikadi na Uenezi wa CCM, Nape Nnauye, alipoulizwa na gazeti hili endapo barua ya malalamiko kupinga ushindi wa uongozi mpya wa UVCCM, alisema hawezi kukataa wala kukubali kwani hajaiona na sio lazima barua hiyo aione. "Barua zote za malalamiko zinafika kwa Katibu Mkuu. Kwa hiyo kama ameipata kabla hajaleta kwenye vikao, siwezi kujua, " alisema Nape. Akizungumzia kanuni za chama kuweza kufuta matokeo, Nape alisema hilo linawezekana kama chama kikijiridhisha kwamba kulikuwa na ukiukwaji wa kanuni za uchaguzi ikiwemo suala la matumizi ya rushwa. Katika uchaguzi wa UVCCM uliofanyika hivi karibuni mjini Dodoma na kutawaliwa na vitendo vya rushwa, mgombea Sadifa Juma Khamis aliibuka mshindi katika nafasi ya Mwenyekiti wa UVCCM taifa. Nafasi ya Makamu Mwenyekiti ilichukuliwa na Mboni M. Mhita. Baadhi ya wajumbe waliongia NEC kupitia jumuiya hiyo ni pamoja na Jerry Slaa, Deo Ndegembi, Anthony Mavunde na Jonas Nkya. Mbali ya kudaiwa kushinda kwa rushwa, mwenyekiti huyo mpya tayari ameshakutana na changamoto nyingine kwamba amedanganya umri wake.