Tanzania’s ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi has introduced radical changes in what its chairman, President John Magufuli said is meant to wrestle the party from a few people with deep pockets.
The party National Congress last week approved proposed changes that saw various party organs reduced and a number of their meetings minimised. 

President Magufuli said after the general election in 2015, the party embarked on self-assessment and decided that it was high time that it overhauled the structure in order to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. 
President Magufuli told the Congress last week that he was determined to “bring the party back to the people” and free it from wealthy members who use their positions in the party to advance personal agenda.
“CCM was party of the oppressed but lately it has been hijacked by well-to-do people,” he said.

Elaborating the changes in the party constitution, the party secretary general Abdulrahman Kinana said members of the Central Committee would be reduced from 34 to 24 and they will only meet once in every four months instead of two months.

He said the number of National executive committee members, which is the highest decision-making organ of the party, will be cut from 380 to 163. This will be achieved through getting rid of CCM regional secretaries who have been ex officio members of the organ ever since it was formed in 1977.

The position of district secretaries has been removed in order to cut unnecessary costs and no member allowed to hold several party positions at a time.

President Magufuli who took over the party leadership from his predecessor President Jakaya Kikwete has been boasting of following the foot prints of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and instilling discipline in the party and government.
Soon after assuming the position of party chairman, he vowed to bring to an end party dependency on rich members, saying this makes some members stronger than the party.

President Magufuli said the party will stop depending on businessmen to fund its operations and would capitalise on membership fees from 8,000,000 members.