Be ready for big surprise, says Zitto

Mr Zitto Kabwe 

By The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

The party leader, Mr Zitto Kabwe, told editors during a dinner organised by the party in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday that those who have been playing the party down should be prepared for a big surprise.

Dar es Salaam. Political parties and other players who will be underestimating the newest entrant in the political arena, Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo) will be doing so at their own peril.

The party leader, Mr Zitto Kabwe, told editors during a dinner organised by the party in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday that those who have been playing the party down should be prepared for a big surprise.

“With this new party we intend to come up with new kind of politics in the country,” said Mr Kabwe, who was recently sacked from Chadema, a party which he joined since he was 16 years old.

Among issues which the new party will stand to gain from, according to the ACT supremo and party chief advisor, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, is the ideology which revolves around a plan to revive Ujamaa – socialism.

Asked if the ideology won’t put off Tanzanians who have a negative perception of the system, Mr Kabwe noted that the party stands for an alternative type of socialism to what Tanzania practiced.

He explained that socialism failed because Tanzania decided to focus on privatisation and not liberalisation.

“If we liberalise we will have public firms competing with private firms and this will stimulate the economy. When you privatise all the firms you kill competition and such firms will be complacent,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Zitto revealed that ACT was his brainchild, which he prepared specifically after he noticed that his future in Chadema was bleak.

“As a politician you don’t expect me to sit and wait to be sacked. As a politician I need a platform through which I can work,” he said.

ACT was basically put in place by Prof Kitila and Mr Samsom Mwigamba, who serves as secretary general after both of them got the sack from Chadema for “disloyalty”.

Meanwhile, the party national chairperson, Ms Anna Mghwira, told the editors that they intend to use their philosophy and ideology to take the country back to the roots, where it was managed basing on well-articulated and understood principles.

“We are now like a nation without an ideol ogy. We want to change that ad let me insist that accountability and making wananchi own and manage their economy will be central to our policies,” she said, said the chairperson.