Makongoro fears CCM will pick a ‘corrupt’ candidate

Mr Makongoro Nyerere chats with journalists after a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday. PHOTO | VENANCE NESTORY      

By Henry Mwangonde The Citizen Correspondent

In Summary

The aspirant says party rules are being broken with impunity ahead of next month’s nomination, but nobody seems to care
“CCM is currently bleeding from corruption and is in serious trouble because of some of its leaders who are now out to kill it for selfish motives,” said Mr Nyerere.    

Dar es Salaam. CCM presidential hopeful Makongoro Nyerere said yesterday there was a possibility of the party picking a candidate tainted by corruption.

Addressing a news conference in Dar es Salaam, Mr Nyerere said party rules were being broken with impunity ahead of next month’s nomination, but nobody seems to care.

“I doubt whether it will be a free and fair process because rules are being broken left, right and centre,” Mwalimu Nyerere’s son said at the family home in Msasani.

He said the chief criterion for picking the party’s presidential candidate was an untainted leadership record, but there were individuals with dubious pasts who had broken and were continuing to break all the rules in the book ahead of the nomination.

“I’m apprehensive because there are many corrupt individuals in the race,” the East African Legislative Assembly member said when briefing journalists on his trips across the country to seek the endorsement of CCM members.

Mr Nyerere added that he concurred with CUF chairman Ibrahim Lipumba’s assertion that there were people in the CCM nomination race who were supposed to be in jail instead of being left to vie for the highest office in the land.

He said in the past people implicated in corruption scandals did not even think about seeking public office, and blamed the current situation on a culture of “friendship” within CCM.

“This friendship thing is killing the party...we have reached a point where decisions are made depending on how close people are in the party...this is costing the party dearly,” he said.

Mr Nyerere added that he had expected to see people who had violated party rules and who were punished for their transgressions to stay out of the nomination, but they were allowed to pick up nomination forms and were busy going around the country seeking members’ endorsement.

He said the rate with which people were getting into government through CCM and “stealing” public funds was alarming.

Mr Nyerere added that people who had proved to be failures despite being in government for four decades had nothing new to offer Tanzanians.