Makonda back in active politics, picked CCM spokesperson
Paul Makonda
What you need to know:
- During his days as Dar es Salaam RC, Mr Makonda was a powerful politician, who was viewed as a confidant of the late President John Magufuli.
Dar es Salaam. Former Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda is back in active politics after spending three years in the cold.
Mr Makonda, whose leadership style when he was RC from 2016 to 2020 put him at loggerheads with a number of other leaders, is the new CCM ideology and publicity secretary.
He replaces Ms Sophia Mjema, who has been appointed advisor to the President on women’s, youth’s and special groups’ affairs.
Mr Makonda’s appointment was among issues that were deliberated on Sunday in Dodoma during a special meeting of CCM’s National Executive Council (NEC), according to a statement signed by Ms Mjema, the outgoing ideology and publicity secretary.
“Among other issues, the meeting, chaired by the CCM national chairperson, Samia Suluhu Hassan, unanimously endorsed and directed the government to sign investment contracts for development of ports. Also, the NEC conducted minor changes to the party’s secretariat by appointing Mr Paul Makonda as its new ideology and publicity secretary,” Ms Mjema said.
During his days as Dar es Salaam RC, Mr Makonda was a powerful politician, who was viewed as a confidant of the late President John Magufuli.
His tenure as RC ended in 2020 when he, along with several other presidential appointees, decided to seek parliamentary seats.
Having shown his desire to seek an elective position, Dr Magufuli dropped him in July 2020 and replaced him with Mr Abubakar Kunenge.
The decision came after Mr Makonda sought to be nominated as CCM’s candidate for the Kigamboni parliamentary seat in Dar es Salaam in the October 2020 General Election.
However, he lost the nomination race to Dr Faustine Ndugulile, who was re-elected as Kigamboni MP.
Since then, Mr Makonda had been out of active politics until Sunday when he was appointed the ruling party’s new ideology and publicity secretary.
He becomes the third person to hold that position since President Hassan came into office in March 2021. He was preceded by Ms Mjema and Mr Shaka Hamdu Shaka.
