editor
With national elections looming, Tanzania’s long-ruling political party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), has taken a bold step by excluding over 30 incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) from its initial list of approved candidates.
This major shake-up follows the party’s internal vetting process, overseen by the powerful Central Committee of its National Executive Council.
The announcement came shortly after a high-level meeting in Dodoma, the capital city and political nerve center of Tanzania. At the heart of these developments is a race to streamline CCM’s electoral machinery ahead of the highly anticipated October 2025 general election.
Some of the excluded MPs are high-profile political figures who have served in past governments or held influential positions in Parliament. These include:
- January Makamba – Former Minister and MP for Bumbuli
- Mrisho Gambo – Former Arusha Urban MP
- Luhaga Mpina – MP for Kisesa
- Angeline Mabula – Former Ilemela legislator
- Zuberi Kuchauka – MP for Liwale
- Christopher Sendeka – Former Simanjiro MP
While the party has not publicly disclosed the specific reasons for their exclusion, political insiders suggest the move may reflect internal restructuring, performance concerns, or broader strategic interests ahead of 2030 succession politics.
Also Read; Fire Kills Five Young Children in Tabora Orphanage Dorm
While several veteran politicians were dropped, others have sailed through the first vetting phase. These include:
- Salma Kikwete, the former First Lady, cleared to contest in Mchinga
- Ridhiwani Kikwete, her son, contesting for re-election in Chalinze
- Doto Biteko, Deputy Prime Minister, who secured an unopposed nomination in Bukombe
This has fueled speculation that party loyalty and internal alignment may have played a role in the shortlisting.
According to the party’s Secretary for Ideology and Publicity, Amos Makalla, more than 5,000 individuals applied for parliamentary seats, while over 30,000 submitted bids for councillorship. Due to this overwhelming response, CCM adjusted its internal rules to allow more than the usual three aspirants per constituency to progress to the next phase, a move framed as part of a broader push for greater inclusivity and internal democracy.
Some constituencies, such as Arusha City and Dodoma Urban, will now see five to seven hopefuls competing for the coveted CCM nomination—effectively making the party primary the most important electoral contest in those areas.
As the primaries move to the next phase—votes by delegates at the ward and constituency levels—CCM hopes to finalize its full roster of candidates by mid-August. The stakes are high. In many regions across Tanzania, securing a CCM ticket is seen as almost equivalent to winning the seat itself, due to the party’s dominance since the introduction of multiparty politics in the 1990s.
Political observers argue that the current reshuffling is not just about 2025 but is also positioning for the party’s future leadership beyond President Samia Suluhu Hassan, whose second term would end by 2030.
