Issued by the Britain-Tanzania Society No 112 Sept - Dec 2015
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Tanzanian Affairs Issued by the Britain-Tanzania Society No 112 Sept - Dec 2015 ELECTION EDITION: MAGUFULI vs LOWASSA Profiles of Key Candidates Petroleum Bills Ruaha’s “Missing” Elephants ta112 - final.indd 1 8/25/2015 12:04:37 PM David Brewin: SURPRISING CHANGES ON THE POLITICAL SCENE As the elections approached, during the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August 2015, Tanzanians witnessed some very dra- matic changes on the political scene. Some sections of the media were even calling the events “Tanzania’s Tsunami!” President Kikwete addessing the CCM congress in Dodoma What happened? A summary 1. In July as all the political parties were having difficulty in choosing their candidates for the presidency, the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party decided to steal a march on the others by bringing forward their own selection process and forcing the other parties to do the same. 2. It seemed as though almost everyone who is anyone wanted to become president. A total of no less than 42 CCM leaders, an unprec- edented number, registered their desire to be the party’s presidential candidate. They included former prime ministers and ministers and many other prominent CCM officials. 3. Meanwhile, members of the CCM hierarchy were gathering in cover photos: CCM presidential candidate, John Magufuli (left), and CHADEMA / UKAWA candidate, Edward Lowassa (right). ta112 - final.indd 2 8/25/2015 12:04:37 PM Surprising Changes on the Political Scene 3 Dodoma to begin the lengthy and highly competitive selection process. 4. The person who appeared to have the best chance of winning for the CCM was former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa MP, who was popular in the party and had been campaigning hard. However, amidst strong protests from his many supporters, he was rejected as a candi- date by the CCM Party’s Ethics and Security Committee during the selection process. Protests from his supporters began immediately. 5. The CCM then chose as its new leader and presidential candidate Dr John Magafuli. He was described as “relatively unknown,” although he was, at the time, Minister of Works in the CCM government. 6. The CHADEMA party saw the chance of having a really well known candidate as its leader and, to astonishment all round, Lowassa sud- denly resigned from the CCM and accepted CHADEMA’s invitation to become its new leader and hence its presidential candidate. All this hap- pened very quickly. Lowassa had been a forceful critic of CHADEMA (and vice-versa) for many years and now he found himself as the party’s leader! This confirmed that Tanzanians, like many other voters around the world, often choose their governments on the basis of personality rather than policy. 7. In the previous elections, in 2010, CHADEMA’s presidential candi- date had been the party’s Secretary General, Dr. Willbrod Slaa. He got a surprisingly good result with 2.2 million votes (23.6%) while the win- ner, President Jakaya Kikwete, got 5.2 million votes (61.7%). Thinking that there was plenty of time Slaa arranged to visit Britain in July this year, presumably to mobilise the Tanzanian diaspora to his side but he had to cancel the visit and hurry back to Dar Salaam to look after his political interests there. Then arrived the news about Lowassa which must have shocked him. He disappeared from the public eye for a few days before emerging to say that he had resigned from CHADEMA and, apparently also from politics altogether! 8. Similarly, Lowassa’s move to CHADEMA has affected other par- ties in the opposition UKAWA coalition. Professor Ibrahim Lipumba, national chairman of CUF and the party’s previous presidential candi- date, has also decided that he was not comfortable sharing a platform with Lowassa. Like Dr Slaa, he has resigned both from his leadership position and apparently from active politics. ta112 - final.indd 3 8/25/2015 12:04:38 PM 4 Surprising Changes on the Political Scene The CCM selection process The first step in the election/selection process in the CCM (the other parties have similar processes) was to reduce the field from the 38 can- didates who returned their nomination papers, down to only five. This is the function of the party’s Central Committee (CC). The first job was to eliminate persons with criminal records or corrupt behaviour and the CC was also expected to look into whether the candidate’s heart was aligned with that of the party. Other considerations were the education and professional conduct of the candidates. The five they chose were Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Bernard Membe; Deputy Minister for Science and Technology, January Makamba; Minister for Works, John Magufuli; Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs (and former UN Deputy CCM Secretary General, Abdulrahman Kinana, with Edward Lowassa at the party’s National Convention in Dodoma, prior to Lowassa switching to CHADEMA. ta112 - final.indd 4 8/25/2015 12:04:38 PM Surprising Changes on the Political Scene 5 “The elders,” who reportedly played a highly influential role in the party’s choice. Secretary General) Dr Asha Rose-Migiro; and the little-known African Union Ambassador to the UN, Amina Salum Ali. The National Executive Committee then cut the list down to three – leaving out Bernard Membe and January Makamba. Prior to the shortlisting, the Ethics and Security Committee of the party, which comprises a small number of party officials and other senior CCM personnel, along with “the elders” – the party’s former lead- ers – met behind closed doors and rejected the candidacy of Edward Lowassa. This caused a storm of objections from his supporters. Outside the hall a group of youths started chanting “We need our Lowassa,” and “Bring back Lowassa,... we trust him and if it wasn’t for him Kikwete would not be the President today.” In the final stage, Dr John Magufuli obtained 2104 (87%) of the votes and beat his two challengers Ambassador Amina Suluhu Ali who got 253 votes and Dr Asha Rose-Migiro who got 59. ta112 - final.indd 5 8/25/2015 12:04:38 PM 6 Surprising Changes on the Political Scene Biographies of the candidates CCM Presidential candidate: Dr John Pombe Magufuli (55) Dr Magufuli hails from the Geita gold-mining region south of Lake Victoria. He is a chemist with a Masters degree from Salford University UK and a PhD from Dar es Salaam University. He has gained a repu- tation as a competent technocrat with a good head for statistics. He worked as both a teacher and an industrial chemist before becoming an MP in 1995 when he was immediately appointed Deputy Minister of Works. He has held a variety of portfolios since that time and has quietly built a reputation for completing projects successfully and for not tolerating under-performing officials. After Magufuli’s victory, according to the account in Africa Confidential, delegates decked in the CCM colours of green and yellow erupted into thunderous applause at the Jamhuri Stadium in Dodoma when he made a light-hearted remark: “To all irresponsible leaders, thieves and corrupt officials please be informed that I will deal with you in a very polite way”. The choice of Magufuli came as a surprise to most people. However, according to the media, former President Benjamin Mkapa had quietly pushed for his candidacy having recruited him as Deputy Minister of Works when he became president in 1995. As Africa Confidential said in its July 24 issue, CCM is counting on the fact that Magufuli’s name is less associated with corruption or rumours of it than many of his original rivals for nomination, including Lowassa. After his election there were many comments. The National Chairman of the small United Democratic Party (UDP) Mr John Cheyo, described him as a hardworking person with a good track record. His work in several ministries had made him widely acceptable while his no-non- sense stance would restore hope among many. However, Singida East MP Tundu Lissu (CHADEMA) had nothing positive to say about him. “Whoever comes out of muddy water is also dirty,” he asserted. President Kikwete said “I am proud of our candidate. He is a very hardworking man and I am certain that he will be the best possible president. He is a no-nonsense man. We hope he will help the country to conquer poverty, fight graft and indiscipline.” ta112 - final.indd 6 8/25/2015 12:04:38 PM Surprising Changes on the Political Scene 7 CCM Presidential candidate, John Magufuli (left), with President Kikwete and Vice- Presidential candidate, Samia Suluhu Hassan Magufuli himself said “I am profoundly overwhelmed by the results but I promise to give the CCM a resounding victory in October. I also promise to serve all Tanzanians to the best of my ability in line with the law of the land and the spirit of good governance”. CCM Vice Presidential Candidate: Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan (55) As his running mate Dr Magufuli named Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan for the Vice Presidential position. She comes from Zanzibar, in line with the country’s constitution that stipulates that if the President comes from the mainland the Vice President must be from Zanzibar. Ms Hassan is the MP for Manyovu and has worked her way up from the ranks of a government typing pool, after taking a Masters degree in the United States, to her present elevated position. She had been picked, said Magafuli, because she was a Zanzibari who understood the challenges facing the Union, having worked closely with the team addressing Union issues for almost a decade.