Chadema to decide fate of 19 legislators
What you need to know:
- Chadema holds that it neither proposed nor endorsed the names of the 19 for special seats in the House, stressing it was to the party’s surprise that their names came up in Parliament as MPs.
Dar es Salaam. The fate of 19 special seats Members of Parliament (MPs) on the ticket of the opposition Chadema will be known this week when the party’s highest decision-making body meets in Dar es Salaam.
On November 27, 2020, Chadema announced to strip its 19 cadres of their memberships in the party when they had gone to be sworn-in in Dodoma Parliament to hold Special Seats positions without the authorisation of the party.
Chadema holds that it neither proposed nor endorsed the names of the 19 for special seats in the House, stressing it was to the party’s surprise that their names came up in Parliament as MPs.
However, the 19 MPs were being vehemently defended by the former House Speaker Job Ndugai who resigned earlier this year due to pressure following his remarks on public borrowing.
Chadema said yesterday that it had prepared five issues on its agenda for the General Assembly meeting that is slated for tomorrow.
“All these MPs have already received their invitation letters and have received them. They will have to come to the meeting to hear the decision of the General Assembly following their appeal,” said the Chadema director of protocol and communications, Mr John Mrema.
Other items on the agenda will include discussions on the party’s five-year strategic plan which will see the opposition party through the 2025 general election; the 2024 local government elections; a new constitution and an independent electoral commission.
The other item, according to Mr Mrema, will be to release the timetable and procedures to be followed during the party’s forthcoming internal elections.
They General Assembly will also discuss a report on the party’s Central Committee on the unabated rise in fuel which has also exerted pressure on the cost of living in Tanzania.
The General Assembly will also discuss the appointment of members of the board of trustees following the death of Mr Arcado Mtagazwa who died in February last year. Chadema has invited Ugandan opposition politician and leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi - popularly known as Bobi wine – to its General Assembly this week.
