Chadema sues CCM for 'M4C' slogan.

By Frank Aman

Presidential candidate Dr John Magufuli.

Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) has said it will go to court on Monday to file a case against Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and its presidential candidate Dr John Magufuli for an alleged illegal use of its campaign slogan, logos and other party symbols contrary to the Election Act and Intellectual Property Right.

 

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Chadema head of the legal and elections department John Mallya said CCM has been violating election Act and other laws by copying and using policies and some of the items legally owned by the party.

 

He said the decision came few days after CCM presidential candidate Dr Magufuli showed a logo written “Magufuli for Change”  abbreviated as M4C as used by  Chadema to mean “Movement for Change.”

 

He said M4C and other signs are legally owned by Chadema under the Trade and Service Mark Act 1986 and World Intellectual Property Organization Convection 1963 effective in Tanzania since 1983.

 

Mallya said the incidents also violate the 1979 Agreement on the Creation of the African Regional Industrial property Organization and the 1993 Harare Protocol on Marks within the Framework of African Region Industrial Property Organization.

 

“CCM now copy and paste our trademarks and policies. Their presidential candidate has copied ‘Mabadiliko’ slogan which was not only used by us but written in our election manifesto. So we’ll file a case on Monday demanding him to stop using all of our identities,” he said. 

 

Mallya said they will also demand that the National Electoral Commission (NEC) issued a stern warning against him and his party on what he called dirty tricks to destabilise the Coalition for the Defence of People’s Constitution (Ukawa) in which Chadema is a core player. 

 

He said Chadema had been witnessing violation of a number of unfair and unwarranted pre-election campaign acts by key figures in the CCM election race. 

 

Mallya said this while disclosing snapshots revealing CCM presidential candidate Dr Magufuli and his running mate Samia Suluhu allegedly bribing the people for sabotage on Ukawa’s election campaign including tearing election posters.

 

 “We have seen director of Mwanza Airport ordering his workers to remove our billboard from the facility. Other incidents include Push Bar in Mwanza, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam though the law does not ban political parties from using public places for campaign,” he said.

 

About two weeks ago CCM candidate for Bumburi constituency January Makamba reportedly paid entrance fee for football fans who gathered at the National Stadium to watch Taifa Stars playing Nigeria’s Green Eagles, in what was widely believed to be a pre-election campaign move. 

 

But Chadema Communication Officer Tumaini Makene said they have already filed complaints at the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) seeking  corruption investigation on the CCM presidential running mate, Makamba and others.

 

However, Makene said for CCM to use dirty tricks was not something new, citing an incident in Kigoma where a CCM candidate was prompted into using M4C logo following public applaud for it.

 

This paper has observed many presidential candidates to have been spending most of their time repeating promises that were pledged by Chadema presidential candidate Edward Lowassa.

 

Presidential candidate for Tanzania Labor Party (TLP), Macmillian Lyimo was quoted as mentioning education as one of the three top priorities if elected president, an obvious plagiarism of Chadema’s manifesto as reflected in Lowassa’s campaign speeches.