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.

READ: Lipumba’s sudden resignation dents Ukawa’s solidarity ahead of election

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 Materu