CCM power play on display in Makamba, Nape removal

Replacements

Mr Nnauye’s portfolio will be filled by the former Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Mr Jerry Silaa, while that of Mr Makamba will be occupied by Tanzania’s ambassador to Italy, Mr Mahmoud Thabit Kombo who had to be appointed as a Member of Parliament first.

Both Mr Makamba and Mr Nnauye are prominent politicians who have done great work serving CCM and its government, including delivering victory for the ruling party in 2010 and 2015 general elections.

They are highly effective politicians who are also deeply rooted at the national level, with particular influence in their strategic areas.

But within the ruling party and in the government, the perception has been that the duo have been disruptive in some issues and that they have been somehow open in their political ambitions.

Mr Makamba is believed to have presidential ambitions and that he would most likely seek his party’s endorsement to vie for the presidency when President Hassan completes her second term in 2030.

2015 CCM primaries

In the CCM primaries for the 2015 elections, Mr Makamba was one of the five ruling party stalwarts who were approved by the party’s Central Committee for consideration of its National Executive Committee to vie for the Presidency along with Bernard Membe, John Magufuli, Asha-Rose Migiro and Ambassador Amina Salum Ali.

“So that still remains and many people within the party and in the government still see him that way. As such, anything he does is closely watched,” said a source who did not want to be named.

The resignation of the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Mbarouk Nassor Mbarouk, had nothing to show that something went seriously wrong at the docket.

“He only had to resign so as to pave the way for the nomination of Tanzania's ambassador to Italy (Mahmoud Thabit Kombo) as MP so he (Kombo) could occupy Mr Makamba’s position…That was done because the President has completed her 10 nominated MPs slots and hence the need to create space and that is why, a State House statement said he (Mbarouk) would be assigned other duties.”

Mr Makamba served as Foreign Affairs Minister for less than a year following the third cabinet reshuffle by President Samia Suluhu on September 1, 2023. Before his stint in Foreign Affairs, he held the position of Minister of Energy.

Whichever way one looks at it, the President’s decision comes shortly after two disturbing social media postings.

In one of the postings, a group known as Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellows and African Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum initiated a campaign whereby they promoted Mr Makamba as a potential successor to African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson Moussa Faki, throwing previous aspirants, including Kenya’s Raila Odinga, back to the drawing board.

Youthful dynamism and charisma

Though Mr Makamba has not spoken about the matter, the youth group says his youthful dynamism, charisma, and problem-solving orientation were qualities that set him apart from other candidates. In essence therefore, much as Mr Makamba has not said a thing on the matter, it all the more put Tanzania’s diplomacy on a collision Kenya.

As for Mr Nnauye, his removal comes shortly after a video surfaced in which he appeared to joke about electoral malpractice, causing widespread controversy and calls for his resignation.

His party, CCM, distanced itself from his comments, emphasising that such actions are not condoned.

Mr Nape Nnauye, was forced to apologise for saying that it was not necessary for the ruling party, CCM, to win votes through ballot boxes.

In a recorded video clip released on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Mr Nnauye is depicted expressing profound regret to those offended by his remarks.

"I have seen the online debate, but as I mentioned, the remarks were meant as a joke. Unfortunately, it has sparked a lengthy discussion, especially as we approach elections,” he states.

"I sympathise with those who have been unsettled by this debate. I apologise and emphasise that it was not intended to be taken seriously," adds Mr Nnauye.

Analysts say Mr Nnauye’s statement came at the wrong time when President Hassan was still looking up to seeing her lieutenants effectively marketing her 4Rs [Reconciliation, Resilience, Reforms and Rebuilding] philosophy.

“Nape reminded people of the statement he made eight years ago when he said CCM would win even with a hand goal….As we head towards the election, making such a questionable statement is challenging,” said an Assistant Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Dodoma, Mr Justine Kajerero.

According to a lecturer in Political Science and Public Administration at the Open University of Tanzania, Dr Revocatus Kabobe, the President has the constitutional right hire and fire members of the Cabinet.

With Mr Nape's decision, “I think the president was not satisfied with the statement made by Bukoba about the election. It was a big mistake for a senior leader like him to make such statements defaming the party and the government about the election.”

Star performer

While much of Mr Nnauye’s accomplishments could go back to his days in the ruling party, Mr Makamba leave behind a record of superb performance in the government during the few years that he has been in the Cabinet.

It was also during the days that Mr Makamba was reinstated as a Cabinet minister responsible for the Energy docket – under the Samia Suluhu Hassan administration – that negotiations between Tanzania and the multinational oil and gas firms were revived, of course, with full support of the President herself.

Still in the Energy docket, Mr Makamba, a US-educated politician who was part of a team that masterminded Magufuli’s election victory in 2015, managed to effectively set the clean cooking agenda live, resulting into the recent adoption of a Sh4.6 trillion (about $1.8 billion) National Strategy for Clean Cooking Energy for the ten-year period from 2024 to 2034.

As Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister, Mr Makamba played a key role in ensuring that Tanzanians in diaspora are accorded special status.

Additional reporting by Gadiosa Lamtey