Lissu bid for Mbowe’s job is an acid test for Chadema

Lissu is Chadema’s vice-chair, Mbowe’s principal assistant.

His Thursday declaration came just two days after the pair appeared to put up a united front as the party announced fresh plans to force through tangible democratic reforms in Tanzania before next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Chadema has yet to set a firm date for its top leadership elections, which were expected to be held before the end of the year, but are now likely to take place in January.

Mbowe, flanked by Lissu in a seemingly amicable atmosphere, said on December 10 that the party's central committee, meeting in Dar es Salaam last week, had decided to refocus on pushing for a new constitution and a truly fair electoral system in the wake of the November 27 civic polls, which raised questions about fairness and integrity, as the last exercise in 2019.

The party leader pledged that this time the party would remain fully committed to the crusade after being derailed by recent overtures from CCM. 

It was the party's first formal public message since the conclusion of the civic polls, where CCM was declared to have won more than 99 percent of the village, street and hamlet seats at stake, mirroring official results from the 2019 polls and allowing the ruling party to retain its dominance of Tanzania's political landscape at the grassroots level. 

Read: CCM sweeps civic seats as opposition cries foul

Once again, the polls’ conduct was characterised by allegations of widespread electoral fraud blamed on supervising officials from the Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Governments (Tamisemi). 

Chadema has come under some scrutiny for delaying its official statement about how it all went down, and the silence became even louder after reports emerged late last week that Lissu was planning to contest the party chairmanship against Mbowe, who has held the seat for 20 years.

Reliable sources said that delegates to the two-day party central committee meeting on December 2-3 spent more time and energy discussing the potentially divisive power play between Mbowe and Lissu than the main agenda -- the civic polls.   

But, in response to questions at the party's December 10 media conference, both protagonists dismissed the speculation about a developing internal power struggle as mere social media chitchat that had been blown out of proportion.

Lissu would then announce his bit at his own media conference in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, saying he had been considering the move for some time now, and come to the conclusion that this was the right time to make it, as Chadema seeks a reset after being defeated by the CCM for so long.   

He presented his credentials -- president of the Tanganyika Law Society and strong background as a lawyer, activist and human rights defender.

"For all these reasons I believe my fellow Chadema members will acknowledge my capacity to lead them," he concluded.

Lissu has been particularly critical of Chadema's decision, under Mbowe, to shelve its initially uncompromising stance on the demands for a new Katiba and electoral system reforms in favour of pursuing “maridhiano” (reconciliation) with CCM, talks which collapsed last year on the back of disagreements over key issues.

He has also asserted that corruption and "dirty money" were disrupting the party’s affairs.

He cited amendments to Chadema's constitution to outlaw bribery and graft in the party's internal elections at all levels and introduce leadership term limits among his priority objectives, if he becomes party chairman.

In remarks which seemed directly aimed at Mbowe, he said: “Setting term limits will reduce the sycophancy and fawning attitudes that surround leaders who cling to power. This party's first and second chairmen, Edwin Mtei and Bob Makani, did not wait to step down from their seats under a cloud of shame. They left with their respect intact." 

He also emphasised that, in the current circumstances, it was now necessary to adopt more hardnosed methods in confronting CCM, and asserted that he had the right qualities to lead the party in this endeavour, "including a principled stance that never wavers."

Read: Chadema battles internal strife as Tanzania heads to civic elections

Political observers see Lissu's candidacy as having the potential to split Chadema right down the middle, with Mbowe representing the moderate faction and Lissu representing the radical faction. 

While the party’s constitution stipulates no term limits for sitting chairpersons, Mbowe has not yet formally stated whether he intends to seek an extension of his 20-year reign.

He downplayed the question on Tuesday saying, "Everything will be known to the public once the time is ripe and we as a party have reached an agreement among ourselves."

Mbowe said the party's constitution allowed "any member to contest any seat" and hinted that suggestions to the contrary were being spread by CCM "to sow seeds of discord within our party."

But he has in the past had to ward accusations of overstaying and ensuring that past challengers for the seat were labelled traitors and expelled from the party, and Lissu's latest gambit could trigger a new round of in-fighting in the top echelons of the party.