PRESIDENT MAGUFULI PARDONING HIS CRITICS AHEAD OF 2020 ELECTIONS

By Staff Reporter, Dar es Salaam TANZANIA

President of Tanzania, John Magufuli, yesterday said that he has forgiven the Mtama Member of Parliament, Nape Nnauye, for ‘what happened previously’.

Speaking in a video, which was circulated in the media by the directorate of presidential communications, reveals that the two held a brief meeting at the State House, the President said that although sometimes it is too difficult for one to forgive, but he has forgiven him.

Former Minister for information Culture, Artists and Sports, Nape Nnauye (left) pleading with President Magufuli at State House yesterday

In the video Nape is seen asking the president for his forgiveness ‘for what transpired recently,’ but he wasn’t specific about what actually happened.

“I have come here to see the President as my father, chairman of the ruling party (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) and as the President because you are all well aware of what happened recently,” said Nape.

Former Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office for
Union Affairs and Environment, January Makamba

He added, “As a CCM child I deemed it necessary to come and seek for forgiveness. I thank him for giving me a chance to hear me out and for his forgiveness.”

Nape is a vocal Tanzanian politician who served as the ruling party's Secretary for Ideology and Publicity since April 2011 and during general elections that put Magufuli into power, was appointed as Minister for information Culture, Artists and Sports in 2015 and replaced in both positions by Humphrey Polepole and Harrison Mwakyembe respectively.

In a leaked telephone conversation recordings allegedly involved former Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office for Union Affairs and Environment, January Makamba speaking to his father, Yusuph Makamba (former CCM Secretary General); Former Minister of Energy and Minerals, William Ngeleja, other former CCM Secretary General Abdulrahman Kinana and Nape.

Former Minister of Energy and Minerals, William Ngeleja

The five have neither admitted nor denied that they were indeed the ones heard discussing in critical way, matters of a political nature and Magufuli’s style of leadership in the recordings.

The President, who said he was forced to abandon another meeting, which was taking place at the State House to meet the youthful politician, said during their meeting the main argument from Nape was, ‘father please forgive me’.

On September 4, 2019 the President forgave Members of Parliament January Makamba and William Ngeleja after the two were allegedly implicated in vocal clips scandal that ‘insulted’ the Head of State.

January was sacked as a minister even associated with the voices as well as the controversial letter his father Makamba and Kinana authored calling for the party to defend its retired leaders from defamation.

Former CCM Secretary General, Yusuph Makamba (left) with former Party leader and President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete

As the 2020 elections are nearing, the ruling party seems divided into two; with supporters of Magufuli want him to run for presidency unopposed for the second 5-years term during nomination and his critics want free democracy to have other members challenge him according to CCM constitution.

With 13 months to go to the 2020 general election, President John Magufuli faces blatant dissent from senior figures in the ruling party. 

Yusuf Makamba and Abdulrahman Kinana, who both served as CCM Secretary General, have accused him indirectly, through an open letter to party elders, of being behind a libellous campaign directed against them by the self-described activist Cyprian Musiba through a daily newspaper that Musiba edits, Tanzanite. 

The newspaper is widely rumored to be backed by Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service.

The letter from two former ruling party secretary generals—widely interpreted as an open criticism of President Magufuli has caused something of a stir in Tanzanian politics over the past two weeks.

Yusuf Makamba and Abdulrahman Kinana took direct aim at the controversial newspaper publisher, Cyprian Musiba, who has been accused of libel for printing allegations that various high-profile figures within CCM and the opposition are plotting to undermine Magufuli.

Former CCM Secretary General, Abdulrahman Kinana (left) with Chairman John Magufuli

Addressing their letter to the CCM Council of Elders, Makamba and Kinana warned that these “unfounded allegations” pose a threat to the party’s “unity, solidarity and tranquility” and called on the former presidents and party officials who make up the Council to take action.

The two erstwhile Secretary Generals also emphasized that Musiba was being protected so that he could “carry out a special mission for important people and with evil intent.”

The letter triggered a flurry of reactions. Several CCM Members of Parliament lined up to defend the President. Other responses, all coming from figures outside CCM, were more sympathetic to the letter writers, suggesting they were right to break their silence.

Since assuming the Presidency in 2015, Magufuli has made a concerted effort to tame CCM’s rival factions, centralizing power under his control.

In the process, he has alienated many party grandees as well as party-aligned economic elites.

This re-balancing and especially some of the violent means through which it has been executed has fed simmering tensions in the party with much speculation about whether and when they could boil over into open conflict.

Former Foreign Minister and contender for the CCM presidential nomination, Bernard Membe

In this vein, observers have wondered whether disgruntled CCM heavyweights including Makamba and Kinana might be coordinating in the background, preparing the groundwork to challenge Magufuli ahead of the 2020 elections.

While such coordination efforts have seemed increasingly unlikely, the President and those closest to him nevertheless continue to demonstrate a high level of paranoia, expressed in part through the accusations published by the now infamous Musiba in his Tanzanite newspaper.

For instance, the current Secretary General, Bashiru Ally, issued a public summons late last year, demanding that former Foreign Minister and contender for the CCM presidential nomination, Bernard Membe, come see him about allegations (again, published in Tanzanite) that Membe was plotting to supplant Magufuli in 2020.

Viewed against this backdrop, Makamba and Kinana’s letter implied the situation had finally reached the much-anticipated boiling point.

Beyond simply exposing those cracks, though, the letter marked a moment of reckoning for the ruling party.

As the political economist Mushtaq Khan argues, who has power is not obvious until that power is subjected to a contest, at which point the competitors see who can hold out and thus determine who has the upper hand.

So long as internal CCM rivalries remain in the shadowy domain of rumor and allegation, there is room to doubt who is really in control to query whether Magufuli’s grip is as strong as it appears.