Here’s why I might quit CCM: Sumaye

 

By Polycarp Machira,The Citizen

In Summary

Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Sumaye also wondered why the government had failed to name leaders who have stashed billions of money in Switzerland despite the Swiss government’s willingness to assist in tracing the offshore accounts.

Dar es Salaam. Former Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye yesterday threatened to quit Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) should the party nominate a candidate tainted by corruption in the 2015 General Election.

Mr Sumaye took a swipe at his immediate successor, Mr Edward Lowassa, who also served as Premier before he was forced to resign in 2008 after being implicated in the Richmond scandal, accusing the latter of politics of deception ahead of 2015 polls.

According to the former Premier, the Kikwete succession politics have turned nasty—shaped mainly by corruption, divisions and a media campaign targeting those seen as potential candidates.

Mr Sumaye, who was one of CCM’s top three candidates in the 2005 presidential race but lost to Mr Kikwete, warned his party that it would lose the next election if it picks a corrupt candidate.

Yesterday’s press conference came a day after Mr Lowassa, one of those said to be eyeing the presidency, lambasted the current leadership for allegedly not being bold enough. Mr Lowassa declared himself fit and ready for the top job.

But in what appeared to be a swipe at Mr Lowassa, Mr Sumaye accused the immediate former PM of misleading the public that he was behind a water project in Shinyanga. Mr Sumaye was the Prime Minister when Mr Lowassa served as minister for Water and Livestock Development in the third phase regime.

Mr Sumaye was referring to a story that appeared in Mwananchi to the effect that it was only President Kikwete, the then minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr Mohamed Seif Khatib, the minister in the Vice President’s Office, who supported the project as other cabinet members lined up against it.

He accused the former PM of not telling the truth and revealing secrets of Cabinet meetings, which is considered a criminal offence. “Maybe he decided to talk about it in public knowing it is not true and no punishment can be laid on him for not telling the truth,” he said.

The project to pump water from Lake Victoria to Shinyanga was a government initiative that was started by the then minister for Water, Dr Pius Ng’wandu, and later taken over by Musa Nkhangaa.

According to Mr Sumaye, it was former President Benjamin Mkapa who kicked off the project when he declared that Shinyanga would get water from Lake Victoria at all cost. “If he claims the project was his initiative, why didn’t he push it further to Dodoma or other places when he became the prime minister and had more powers?” Mr Sumaye wondered.

He also warned Tanzania against withdrawing from the East African Community, saying it would be a big mistake at this time when other countries are pulling together in regional federations.

Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Sumaye also wondered why the government had failed to name leaders who have stashed billions of money in Switzerland despite the Swiss government’s willingness to assist in tracing the offshore accounts. “Why can’t the government act, once and for all, to clear this controversy that has existed for years now?” he asked.

In his 50-minute press conference, the former Prime Minister lamented about “dirty politics” ahead of the 2015 general elections. He accused his opponents in the ruling party of trying to keep him away from public events.

While praising President Jakaya Kikwete for the war against corruption, both in and outside the party, he said corrupt CCM members are doing all they can to get hold of the party and the presidency.

On two different occasions, he said, the unnamed group tried to block him from taking the lead at public occasions he had been invited to.

On 27 October, the former PM was to officiate at a Dar es Salaam function where he was to receive joggers and give a speech as the guest of honour. On his way to the event, though, he was told that the event had been cancelled only to learn that someone else had done the honours.

The following day, he said, he was to be the guest of honour at the opening of Nshamba Saccos in Muleba in Kagera Region. But as he was about to set off on the journey, he was informed that the event had been called off. “I later heard that someone influential in the region asked how Sumaye could go there before ‘our person’,” he said.

According to the former premier, the two are tainted by corruption and are now trying to use all means at their disposal to please the public.

He accused one of them of having accumulated wealth through corrupt deals and was now trying to demonstrate his generosity by dishing out money in church and other ceremonies.

“Let them know that I have a lot of invitations, some that I do not even have time to attend,”Mr Sumaye said. “But they should know that they lack moral authority to be invited to some events.”

On the EAC, Mr Sumaye urged Tanzania to hold talks with other partner states and sort out their differences rather than pull out.