What is Transpiring
As the country heads towards October 2025 General Elections challenging democratic issues continue to surface, casting a sense of unease amidst concerns about safety and a growing cry for preservation of individual rights (haki) and valuing of human dignity (utu). It is no longer just the Opposition Party Chadema, but pronounced public calls have emerged within the Ruling Party CCM, some cadres are raising concerns about unfair party selection procedures, governance grievances, community safety, and management of public resources and assets. Notable, are also emerging public claims that shadow figures have ‘hijacked’ Government and CCM rule. For ease of read, I put in point form:
- Lack of Government action over incidences of abductions, disappearances, and extra-judicial killings
- That the major Opposition Party Chadema should be allowed to exercise freedom in holding peaceful election campaigns without fear of being subjected to detention, Police intervention or disappearances
- Some in the Ruling Party are questioning the legitimacy and integrity of candidates’ pre-selection processes, including MPs, Madiwani (Local Counsellors), and the nomination of our incumbent President Mama Samia according to her Party critics they are saying it violated party procedures.
- In my previous article I noted the public instruction by President Mama Samia in her capacity as the Chairperson of the Ruling Party she expressly publicly suggested for her Party to sift out those of Gwajima-type mentalities from standing as MPs and other political positions.
- In recent days shocking public claims made by a key party cadre and former Ambassador Humphrey Polepole that powerful well- resourced elements are ruling the country from shadows, hijacking the Ruling Party and Government. This CCM cadre who is still part of the party executives (Halmashauri Kuu ya Taifa CCM) reported through his online podcasts that a shadow group known as Mtandao is responsible for lack of progress in addressing community safety and hampering development. According to him the Mtandao shadow group selects who will be in ‘Bunge”, and ‘Wanakupangia nani atakuwa nani’ (who will have what position). His revelations follows on after he resigned from Ambassadorial role and explained via his social media podcasts that his diplomatic role was not productive, according to him he was being hampered from producing outcomes beneficial for Tanzania.
- In recent days many online sources reported ‘controversial’ Ruling Party election fundraisers which delivered about 86 Billion Tanzanian Shillings, attracting negative social media attention (close to USD $33 million) Why? Some commentators are troubled by potential conflict of interest with the entrepreneurial class dishing out huge amounts of money to CCM at a time when other political stakeholders in the country are dissatisfied by inadequacy level of effort by the Ruling Party to improve safety, political participation, and enhance effectiveness of bureaucratic arm.
- Political fundraisers are a complex matters to judge one way or the other – it probably deserves an article of its own to do the subject justice. You would think though the entrepreneurial class would recognise that longer term it’s good to have a community on side (ala a concept of social license, a term used in advanced countries). Although others are equally arguing that perhaps big business has come to the conclusion that donating to CCM is their way to survive!
Rights Enshrined in Tanzanian Constitution
There are certain
fundamental rights already enshrined in the Tanzanian Constitution. I cite a
few examples here to indicate the gap in governance and accountability. It’s
not like the language of rights is foreign to Tanzania. But if they are being
violated, then any future change needs to look beyond improving the
Constitution or the election procedures. Even under TANU (which preceded CCM)
and later CCM songs of rights were sang in schools, national festivals and
blazed Radio wavelengths. Is it possible that leaders across our Ruling Party
CCM are not aware that these rights are also contained in their own CCM
Constitution? The Tanzanian Constitution affirms these freedoms:
- Humans are born free and are equal (Binadamu wote huzaliwa huru, na wote ni sawa)
- Equality before the law (Usawa mbele ya sheria)
- Right to life (Haki ya kuwa hai)
- Right to individual freedom (Haki ya uhuru wa mtu binafsi)
- Right to privacy and safety (Haki ya faragha na usalama)
- Freedom of expression (Uhuru wa maoni)
- Freedom of choice in religious belief (Uhuru wa mtu kuamini dini atakayo)
- Freedom to associate (Uhuru wa mtu kushirikiana na wengine)
- Freedom to participate in public life (Uhuru wa kushiriki shughuli za umma)
- Freedom to own property (Haki ya kumiliki mali)
- Freedom to access fair wage in employment (Haki ya kupata ujira wa haki)
For detail here is a link to the Tanzanian Constitution, and provisions can be found in the Ruling Party CCM’s Constitution: Constitution of Tanzania and CCM Constitution Ruling Party)
A Gap in Constitutional Rights & Some Everyday-Experiences
In the
current period it is becoming clear that it is one thing to enshrine rights in
the Constitution, it is another to ensure they are practiced. It is useful to
expand this point to indicate the extent to which those rights are experienced
at every-day level for some people/groups.
- It has become common for some Opposition Party figures to find them periodically thrown into custody often for fear that their everyday political promotion activities might endanger Tanzania’s peace. In more serious cases as at present, the Leader of the major Opposition Party Chadema remains in custody facing treason due to his Party’s campaign demanding that elections only be held after improving election procedures and integrity. If found guilty, the penalty for treason is death. Whether his slogan of no election no reform involved treason remains to be seen. In the meantime, this Opposition leader confined in custody clearly is unable to participate in election campaigns.
- This Opposition Leader Tundu Lissu’s freedom of worship came up in recent months after being denied access to worship and pastoral care, until the judge ordered Prison authorities to rectify this matter.
- Prominent Ruling Party Parliamentarian Bishop Gwajima who previously spoke publicly against lack of Government action in stopping abductions, murders and disappearances is no longer contesting for his local Parliamentary seat, after President Samia Suluhu Hassan publicly told her party she did not wish this candidate and people of his political calibre to win Party pre-selection. The President added a new lexicon to our Swahili-English lingo, emphasising that she does not wish to see her Ruling Party Gwajimanised.
- Church deregistration affecting at least 70,000 followers with multiple branches across the country (some online sources suggests this Bishop also MP has almost 3 million faith followers)
- One of the major church buildings had some of its structures destroyed Unprecedented street commotion between the Police and worshippers as some of church followers sought to assert their freedom to worship along the road next to church
- Other church activities at church premises halted by the Police Force
- Ongoing contestation of church closures currently before courts
- Close to 80 church goers were initially reportedly arrested
- Some of Bishop Gwajima’s church goers found refuge at one of the local Lutheran church allowed space to worship, this caused another major incident the online media reported that Tanzanian authorities torn down the church for hosting these believers!
- Church followers had since tried to also access 6 public temporary venues, but the owners cancelled soon after (according to Bishop Gwajima recent broadcast)
- Some of the Muslim clergy have also spoken up in support of Gwajima’s church, and some in asserting their own freedoms it has also been reported that some Muslim clergy were detained, reasons not disclosed (refer to online speeches made by MP, Bishop Gwajima)
- NOTE: There are also notable church leaders some of whom are clearly supportive of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s nomination process and continuation as President. And equally some clergy simply hold the view that a President is in that role by will of God, saying that their role is not to question, but to always pray for those in position of authority.
Separation of Powers
Bishop
Gwajima had publicly suggested in his initial speech that the unconstrained
powers vested with the Office of the President to fire and hire heads of
intelligence, Police and Military Force, Immigration and Heads of Prisons should
be subjected to some checks and balance
measures using some kind of special Parliamentary Committee instrument. In his
view this will give confidence and more independence to these Heads of
sensitive institutions enhancing governance and accountability. He implied with
concern that recent times had seen erosion of stability from some of these institutions.
Going by
available reports, it is worth noting claims made by Bishop Gwajima’s church
that the initial de-registration paperwork by the issuing authority had no
signature and there is a discrepancy in the name of the entity that was being
de-registered from the proper legal name of the church. For a while it was not
clear who authorised the church closure, and how Police authorities initially came
to enforce the closure measure amidst the gap in paperwork.
Rightly or
wrongly, the initial lack of transparency in the de-registration documentation
process seemed to cast doubt on who was making the decisions, and whether the
individuals or jurisdiction making such decisions are those vested with such
legal and administrative powers to do so. This is just to say that it could be
that the lack of separation of power
is more far-reaching, probably indicative of weak institutions and
concentration of power in fewer hands that are placed to weird power.
His
suggestion sounded a bit like what in social and political theory you would
call separation of powers doctrine
which to a different degree is applied in many democratic countries for checks
and balances in governance. That is partly why even in Tanzanian the Constitution
assigns different branches of Government specific roles. The Parliament legislates,
monitors and provides compliance oversight (in theory), and the judiciary such
as Court systems follow the law ensuring populations receive justice as per law
without interference from other branches of Government. The idea here is ensure
laws are followed and that people are treated equally before the law.
From what I
can glance, many advanced democratic systems around the world have built in
Constitutional and legislative structures that ensure their intelligence,
military and Police institutions are stable and maintain some level of
independence, subject to legal and Constitutional frameworks. The crux of his
argument if I grasped it is that the separation of power will be a greater countervailing
force that helps promote accountable and fair decision-making by the
intelligencia in their role in helping safeguard the security and wellbeing of
Tanzania population.
That all
said, Tanzania needs to develop a strong political culture so that those vested
with responsibilities take their responsibility seriously so that peoples’
freedom are preserved and realised.
Freedom of Worship
As already
noted, Tanzania enshrines freedom of religion and worship in its constitution. And
it recognises people are born free, affirming
that individual rights cannot be extinguished by anyone. They are natural
rights. Just like the right to life, you are born with the right to make
personal choices about religious belief and how to express it. Census data
estimates that 63% of the population are Christians (Catholic, Lutherans,
Pentecostals, Anglicans, etc.) and about 32% identify as Muslims.
In closing
down the Glory of Christ Church- Ufufuo
na Uzima across 2000 locations within the country, it is not at all clear from
authorities what legal breaches have been done by multiple Bishops, Pastors and
various church clergy and staff associated with that church to be subjected to
closure. Moreover some of the churches presumably facilitate wide ranging
pastoral care from children, women and youth activities. This is often the case
with many such churches around the world. Under these circumstances, religious
freedoms seem to fall short of Tanzania’s constitutional provisions and likely
to be affecting significant number of people who are part of this particular Pentecostal-type
church. And in restricting these believers from accessing other temporary site
from praying, worshipping and listening to sermons, that too seems problematic
– in what way is this affirming the freedom of thousands of these people to
express worship to their God?
At least a
few millions who have watched this Parliamentarian Bishop Gwajima preaching and
doing his deliverance ministry at stadiums with live online broadcasts will be
aware he routinely promotes his Ruling Party-CCM, the President and praises
Heads of Districts/Regions. He regularly would say “CCM oyee, Mama Samia Oyee”
and more. So censoring his speech on his vocal stance on abductions, killings
and disappearances is quite selective.
Standing against
abductions and killings is an expression of faith and of shared concern for
humanity. In biblical terms, justice is core to understanding who God is and his
purposes for our lives. I am not a Biblical Scholar, but even as an ordinary
Christian I can easily highlight a sample of a few biblical citations on this
point about necessity of supporting justice.
Psalm 82:3 Defend the weak and the
fatherless
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of
the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Amos 5:22-24
In a previous article I noted a shocking incident that saw a senior Catholic Bishop Father Kitima attacked and left for dead (save for the grace God he survived!) The attack of this Bishop took place after the Catholic Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) issued a series of official Statements urging the Tanzanian Government to address concerns about abductions, disappearances, and notable unexplained killings. The Catholic Church is a significant institution in Tanzania not only in pastoral care, but with a long history of public education, health and charitable operations dating back to the 19th C.
Freedom and political participation
Recent
concerns around freedom in political participation have included the following
online reports:
- Concerns indicating
that in last year’s local elections saw very significant disqualifications of Opposition
party candidates for reasons that these parties, some Church figures, Human
Rights groups, and the Law Society say are unfair and unconstitutional.
- Above stakeholders are citing election processes and procedures as lacking. Surprising examples indicate widespread concerns:
- When processing election nomination
paperwork offices responsible for receiving and handling the paperwork
sometimes are closed, limiting access and fairness for some candidates to
process their paperwork in a timely manner. In such instances which are
reportedly not isolated, clearly anyone can see that a constitutional right to
participate in public and political life is being denied.
- Many Opposition party small business operators (Wajasiriamali) contesting for local Government last year had their initial paperwork rejected apparently the electoral system deemed them unemployed and thus not fit to stand. According to online reports, their counterparts standing for the Ruling Party with the same occupation listing as Wajasiriamali (small business operators) were reportedly deemed legitimate. How does equality to participate in political life fit here, let alone recognition of everyone’s dignity?
- Candidates being disqualified on technicalities for example – if middle initial in your name is missing from candidate form. Apparently, another in similar position may be accepted.
- Opposition denied to be represented by scrutineers of their choice during vote count. If these online reports are true, what seeds are we sowing and towards what end?
- Recent major factional differences emerged within the Ruling Party with a couple of figures publicly disputing the pre-selection of the incumbent President Mama Samia to run for the President seat which she currently occupies. One of the crux of their argument is that the Ruling Party did not follow internal selection procedures that would have allowed other potential candidates to nominate pre-selection for Presidential candidacy.
- A key critic of this pre-selection process Pastor Dr Godfrey Malissa has been thrown out of the CCM Ruling Party, and is now seeking to challenge his Ruling Party pre-selection process saying it is unconstitutional.
- Another major CCM cadre Former MP and Former Ambassador Humphrey Polepole has emerged this year facilitating regular scrutiny over his Ruling Party’s elections procedure deficiencies and various accountability and governance matters involving the running of Government. He has also spoken up against Government inaction over abductions, killings and disappearances through his online channels.
- Polepole who has previously served in senior Ruling Party and also diplomatic roles has also expressed some shocking concerns initially suggesting that potentially the country is in danger of being under a shadow Government rule. In recent days he has been more forthright in his claims saying that the kind of informal team or network within and outside the ruling party and outside Government system have been usurping existing authorities. Stating that these forces which apparently are known as Mtandao are blocking the country’s progress, he says they are driven by private gain and apparent they dictate who should hold what position in the country.
- He asserts in his words that Tanzania has been ‘hijacked’ by well-resourced ‘shadow’ figures Mtandao who according to him select who will be in ‘Bunge”, and ‘Wanakupangia nani atakuwa nani’ (they assign for you who will have what position). Mr Polepole has also lately implied shadow players are dictating usage of key economic resources, to the detriment of general Tanzanian societal economic wellbeing.
- This claim by such a heavy weight CCM cadre insider and Former Ambassador and MP is somewhat troubling and shocking. Why? Because currently globally, assertions about shadow Governments evokes concerns about external and internal impositions often associated with maligned organisations like WEF and those exposed in USAID saga. So which associated external influences are implicated?
Conclusive remarks
The current
situation has brought to surface deep seated democratic issues which if
addressed hold potential to further propel Tanzania into a more bright future.
To recap on some of the points:
- Clearly certain fundamental rights are present in the Tanzanian Constitution, but it is equally evident that increasingly our Tanzanian institutional structures, practices and institutional culture are not adequately safeguarding these rights that are due to every individual and groups.
- Our modern Tanzanian political narratives are full of assertions of maadili. But how is it a possible to talk about maadili of any nation without strong defence of right to life, freedom of religion, freedom to express a view? How is that possible?
- Human dignity (utu), Right to life (haki ya kuishi), and individual rights (haki) and Freedom of Expression (Haki ya Maoni) are universal rights agreed upon by all democratic societies in the world. Tanzanian is a signatory to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Further, these rights are God-given (inalienable, cannot be extinguished by anyone). Leaders should not be surprised to see growing anxiety and shock in the population as people observe Government’s reluctance and silence in addressing concerns about abductions, disappearances and killings.
- All Opposition parties should be allowed to exercise freedom of political participation at local and national level without fear of being subjected to detention, abductions or disappearances.
- Similarly, Ruling Party CCM aspiring candidates should be allowed to contest in their internal pre-selection processes without fear of safety or being sanctioned by other means. Safe though robust pre-selection processes can help the country to generate MPs, Madiwani and other local political leaders equipped to help respond to every-day community needs.
- Public concerns expressed by some Ruling Party CCM cadres that the governance of Tanzania has been ‘hijacked’ by well-resourced ‘shadow’ figures Mtandao requires more attention because it is matter now of public interest (in economic, political and social terms).
- This claim is being asserted at the same time that Government institutions vested with powers to safeguard rights and safety are not at the forefront resolving community concerns. Indeed there are multiple Online reports where elements who apparently ‘pretend’ to be the ‘Police’ but may not be the Police, or if they are, it is not clear which station or which senior officer authorises their extra-judicial activities that people claim are part of forced disappearances. For this reason exploration of claims of shadow authority is useful to help Tanzania sort out what exactly is going on and improve security and policing governance that way.
- We will all likely be aware the US situation where the Biden autopen controversy is playing out, with some arguing that during his administration other figures largely ruled from the shadows (whatever that means). In this era where globalist forces have sought to usurp national Governments, I suppose our Tanzanian rulers in the future can expect that even within their own cadres, their people are waking up to guard against potential external forces that they think maybe negatively impacting the development agenda.
- It may also be in the public interest if the CCM whistle-blowers can offer more clarification.
- Tanzania was at the centre of Frontline States engaged in multiple efforts leading to liberation of many Southern African nations to independence, defending basic rights already discussed here. It will be a decisive departure from who we are as Tanzanians if abductions, disappearance and killings are allowed or tolerated further. It is a departure from what once was regarded to be core essence of maadili and civility. Addressing these issues is essential in cultivating social cohesion.
- The growing effort discouraging people from speaking has potential to affect the country longer term – encourage people to use their local and broader knowledge to inform regular public debates about how individually and as groups we can be more resourceful, how we can use local and national resources better to enhance our economy, let people and groups generate ideas about how we can create more youth employment opportunities, policies that support local industries, local exports. Just to name some.
- Free flow of respectful views at local and national level cannot be separated from notions of development. We need a mixture of top-down and bottom-up views and strategies in building the country uchumi na maendeleo.
- Broadly speaking, I think the Government executive branch when they bring in advisors to support and guide various policy directions, they should pay attention that those they recruit share and are committed to the development of social and economic wellbeing of Tanzanians (raison d’etre).
- There is also the concept of separation of powers proposed by Bishop Gwajima that maybe could benefit from further discussion. Clearly, separation of powers doctrine has a long history in helping improve democratic functioning. At the same time, there are also notable instances where some of our Government institutions are failing to exercise certain powers that are already vested with them by the constitution. Perhaps in addition to strengthening separation of power, concepts of accountability need more attention.
- Also, attention needs to go back at revamping accountability in bureaucracy and their everyday operations.
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