CUF supporters after cancellation of Zanzibar election results on October 30, 2015. FILE PHOTO | TONY KARUMBA |
AFP
By ERICK KABENDERA
In Summary
- Tanzania’s Civic United Front (CUF) finds itself in fresh wrangles after Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, who had resigned from the party last year, returned in August only to be stripped of his membership.
- The developments within CUF have other members of the Ukawa coalition worried. According to Chadema vice-chairman Prof Abdallah Safari, the wrangles will adversely affect the future of Ukawa and the credibility of the opposition in general.
- Analysts have it that Prof Lipumba and Mr Hamad had an opportunity to iron out their differences but were prevented by the hardliners surrounding them.
Tanzania’s Civic United Front (CUF) finds itself in fresh
wrangles after Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, who had resigned from the party
last year, returned in August only to be stripped of his membership.
The opposition party’s supreme governing council said 43 members
of the total 53 unanimously voted to sack Prof Lipumba for causing a
fracas during the party’s congress last month but he wrote to the
registrar to inform him that he was still the party’s chairman. The
registrar ruled in favour of Prof Lipumba, saying that he was the bona
fide chairman of the party.
Prof Lipumba has accused the party’s Zanzibar counterparts led by secretary general Seif Sharif Hamad of seeking dominance.
“There is no unity in CUF between the Mainland and Zanzibar as one side wants to dominate the other,” Prof Lipumba told The EastAfrican.
The developments within CUF have other members of the Ukawa
coalition worried. According to Chadema vice-chairman Prof Abdallah
Safari, the wrangles will adversely affect the future of Ukawa and the
credibility of the opposition in general.
“It is important that it is resolved amicably as soon as possible,” Prof Safari said.
Mr Hamad enjoys popular political support in Zanzibar, where the party is the main opposition party.
Analysts have it that Prof Lipumba and Mr Hamad had an
opportunity to iron out their differences but were prevented by the
hardliners surrounding them.
However, according to analysts, the most likely scenario is that
Prof Lipumba and his supporters will maintain the majority of the
support on the mainland while Mr Seif Hamad will maintain that of
Zanzibar.
There were unconfirmed reports that Prof Lipumba was looking to
join Zitto Kabwe’s ACT Wazalendo political party after he left CUF.
However, such rumours have died out since he returned to CUF but sources
close to him told The EastAfrican that it was likely that Prof Lipumba would form a coalition with ACT–Wazalendo.
A force to reckon with
Mr Hamad has shaken CCM’s dominance in Zanzibar from 1995 till
today, when he contested the presidency for the first time and claimed
twice to have won — in 1995 and 2015 respectively.
Prof Lipumba left the CUF leadership when it was heading to the
closest contested national election ever last year and has been absent
at a time the party was fighting to reclaim its “stolen” victory in
2015.
Mr Hamad, flanked by other top leaders in CUF, claimed to have
lodged a complaint with the International Criminal Court at The Hague,
demanding the court investigate “gross human-rights abuse” in Zanzibar.
He engineered the party’s complaint to the The United Nations Human
Rights Council, backed by the World Liberal Union (WLU) seeking external
help solve the political crisis in Zanzibar Isles.
His move resulted in WLU urging the UN to act on Zanzibar,
saying there was a breach of human rights in the Zanzibar general
elections.
“It is time for major global institutions to bear
responsibility, ensuring the governments of Zanzibar and Tanzania
respect human rights and democratic principles,” said Robert Winthop,
vice president the World Liberal Union, when presenting the report.
The report cites incidents of human-rights abuse in Zanzibar, after the annulment of the last election.
Additional reporting by Beatrice Mater
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