{UAH} Allan/Edmund/Pojim/WBK: Magufuli-Kikwete’s union and the CCM changeover - Political Reforms | The Citizen
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Magufuli-Kikwete's union and the CCM changeover - Political Reforms
Dar es Salaam. The difference was right there from the start. One, a seemingly easygoing, softer diplomat. The other, rather blunt, an unpredictable straight talker. Yet since the beginning of the year, reports of "difficult relations" between President John Magufuli and his predecessor have largely been left to the rumour mill.
Now, a fresh round of media hype on "differences" between the two CCM stalwarts looms large in the horizon with the change which is about to take place in the corridors of power in the ruling party. It's the kind of talk that President John Magufuli and Mr Kikwete will not be able to prevent in the coming few days.
On Saturday, July 23, the President is scheduled to take over the chairmanship of CCM from his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete. It is tradition in the party, that the President is also chairman. But of course, there have been voices of late from within the party, silently lobbying for separation of roles.
These voices of change argue that considering the changing political climate in Tanzania, a full time chairman is no longer an option for CCM to deal with threats to its continued survival. They also want a full time chair to direct the party in a whole new path bearing in mind the Opposition has been gradually gaining ground, and also considering the plethora of problems it has had to deal with in the past few years.
However, behind the change agenda, some analysts say, are apparent fears fueled by the speculation of a "feud" between the President and Mr Kikwete which continued to run wild over the past few months, even though public expressions of the discord were only left to speculation.
In many ways, since the fateful day in November 2015, it has been more than apparent that the two ruling party leaders have shown they represent two different strands when it comes to their approaches to practical politics.
Still, there has never been a major public spate.
In fact, in an apparent bid to debunk the claims of bad blood between them, there has been a sudden outbreak of mutual admiration, with President Magufuli, displaying himself as the most amiable of the pair, heaping praises on his predecessor in an unprecedented manner.
Mr Kikwete, on the other hand, has also been playing his part, suggesting he is reading from the same page with the President by featuring as a special guest at various ceremonies officiated by the Head of State over the past few months.
In tub-thumping remarks on June 23, President Magufuli went a step further to assure his predecessor to not lose sleep over suggestions from some quarters that he be prosecuted together with former officials of his administration who were implicated in multi-billion shilling corruption scams.
"I want to assure you President Kikwete that you have done a good job, and your retirement is justified. Do not worry, I will protect you. My job is to protect all retired leaders of this nation. Do not care about those who speak ill of you," President Magufuli said.
In a recent interview with Political Platform, CCM spokesperson Christopher Ole Sendeka also dismissed claims of a rift between the two leaders as "cheap propaganda" by critics of the President.
He said: "President Kikwete appreciates the good things his successor is doing, that is why he even suggested to speed-up the transition process because he wanted major party reforms to be supervised by the new chairman."
Mr Parit Sarun from the Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial University lecturer, said the recent public gestures of unity and togetherness between the two leaders showed President Magufuli appreciated the good things his predecessor did during his tenure.
He also dismissed the notion that many CCM stalwarts are living in fear of a Magufuli chairmanship which is likely to be shaped by his reform agenda.
"I don't see any reason for party bigwigs to be uncomfortable with the leadership transition. President Magufuli is expected to lead the party guided by its constitution, rules and regulations," Mr Sarun said.
Prof Gaudence Mpangala from the Ruaha University College (Ruco) says it's unfair to use President Magufuli's fight on wasteful spending in government as an indication of a rift with his predecessor.
"President Magufuli never criticised an individual from the Fourth Phase Government, he has only been attacking wrong tendencies by individual government officials," Prof Mpangala said.
He said President Magufuli was wisely breathing new life into the ruling party by working on issues which gave popularity to the Opposition during the previous administration.
"The increased closeness with former President Kikwete shows the public that after all that transpired during the 2015 General Election, CCM was still united and top leaders speak the same language," Prof Mpangala noted.
Prof Mpangala, however, said he did not see how President Magufuli could engineer any major changes within CCM when he becomes the party's chairman later this month because it boiled down to fighting the same system that brought him into power.
"He will be fighting the system that has brought him to power. From the far side, I see him being changed instead of changing the party," Prof Mpangala said.
He has failed to change CCM's dependence on the State to fight its political battles, Prof Mpangala added. Instead, CCM dependency on the State for political survival has increased more than at any time in the history of the party, and this, he argued, was coming at the expense of democracy.
Dr Benson Bana from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) had similar views. He said President Magufuli had nothing new to bring within CCM.
"The system that brought President Magufuli into the country's top office is the system that determines what he does."
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