Leading Tanzania ‘Stressful and Thankless’ –Kikwete

The President says he can’t wait to leave State House….

…and he is leaving his political party ‘stronger’, according to some analysts.

 

President Jakaya Kikwete addresses the Wilson Centre in USA

President Jakaya Kikwete addresses the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC.. Photo:: State House

By Aislinn Laing of  The Telegraph, Johannesburg.

 

Tanzania’s outgoing president Jakaya Kikwete has told how he is looking forward to stepping down in October 2015, describing the job of leading his country as “stressful and thankless”.

Two terms in high office were more than enough for him, Mr Kikwete added during a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC.

“After 10 years, you need to move on. It’s been 10 years since I came to this high profile office,” he said. “I was very young, just 55. But what I can tell you about this job is that it is stressful and thankless.” His comments might furrow some brows among his neighbours, who have been accused of overstaying their welcome in office.

To the north, Yoweri Museveni has been in office in Uganda since 1986 when he helped to topple dictators Idi Amin and Milton Obote, and is now serving his fourth term amid accusations of electoral fraud and intimidation of the opposition.

To the west, there were deadly clashes in January after it was suggested that Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, might try to change the constitution to enable him to run for a third term.

Both Malawi and Zambia are beacons in the region for power having changed hands peacefully several times in recent years, but further south in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, the president, has clung on to high office, allegedly using voter intimidation, violence and poll manipulation, since 1980. Further west, Angola’s Eduardo dos Santos has been in power since 1979.

In West Africa, none the less, Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan set a strong example for the region last week when he conceded defeat to his presidential rival Muhammadu Buhari in crunch elections.

Asked at the Washington event why he believed African leaders had a tendency to cling to power, Mr Kikwete took a diplomatic approach. “I should not speak on their behalf,” he said. “You need to invite them and get their opinions.”

Kikwete leaves a Strong ruling party

Meanwhile, Bloomgerg News  has predicted that  Tanzania’s current ruling party is set to become stronger before the country’s general election in October of this year 2015. The reporter  David Malingha reported from Nairobi, Kenya,  that  Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi  (CCM) party is set to gain support before elections this year after a dispute within the main opposition party which has resulted in the expulsion of one of the opposition party’s leaders.  The reporter attributes this sessment to a source named Teneo Intelligence.

Zitto Zuberi Kabwe

Zitto Zuberi Kabwe

The expelled opposition leader at issue is Zitto Zuberi Kabwe who was accused by his former party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) of colluding with the Tanzania secret service to leak sensitive information out of the party—the leaks which  it was feared would eventually be used by the ruling party CCM.

Zitto Kabwe stepped down as lawmaker and chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee after Chama Cha Demokrasia expelled him, according to his last speech to the National Assembly, a copy of which was posted on his blog March 20.

Some sections of the media in Tanzania had reported that Chadema, Tanzania’s main opposition party, expelled Kabwe on allegations that he planned to “wreck” the party.

 “Chadema’s infighting only reinforces widespread public perceptions that the party, despite its popularity in urban parts of the country, is unprepared for national government,” Ahmed Salim, a Dubai-based analyst at Teneo Intelligence, said in an e-mailed note [to Bloomberg News] .

Tanzania, East Africa’s second-biggest economy with natural-gas reserves estimated at 50.5 trillion cubic feet, is preparing to hold elections in October, when President Jakaya Kikwete will step down after two terms in office.

Former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and Deputy Communications Minister January Makamba have declared their intention to seek the nomination of the ruling party to succeed Kikwete, Bloomberg News reports.

As head of the Public Accounts Committee, Kabwe uncovered various corruption scandals, including the suspected irregular transfer of 200 billion shillings ($108 million) from an escrow account in the central bank to power producers. The scandal is partly the reason foreign donors including the U.K, Japan, Germany and the World Bank withheld as much as $558 million of aid for Tanzania’s 2014-15 budget.

PAC  investigations, under Kabwe,  resulted in the resignations of cabinet ministers, which was “a real thorn” to the CCM Kikwete’s government, Salim said. “Kabwe’s removal as head of the PAC significantly eliminates the chances of intense parliamentary scrutiny of CCM’s policies and actions.”

Since leaving Chadema, Kabwe has joined the newly created Alliance for Change and Transparency  (ACT) party.

While external threats to CCM’s political dominance diminish, Salim said, the party’s popularity is also declining, partly because of its failure to properly manage a planned referendum on a new constitution scheduled for April 30.  Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has said the referendum may be delayed.

“Failure to meet the 30 April deadline would be a huge embarrassment for President Jakaya Kikwete’s administration, which [ had] expended much political capital on the issue,” Salim said.