Dar es Salaam. The opposition ACT-Wazalendo party’s two-day annual convention kicked off here on Tuesday, with the theme of intra-party democracy taking a front seat in the speeches of party leaders and invited dignitaries.

The convention, the fourth one since the founding of the left-leaning political party in 2014, occurs at the Mlimani City Conference Centre, drawing the participation of party leaders from across the country from grassroots levels to national levels.

During the two days, party delegates will participate in the election of the party’s top national leaders, including a party leader, national chairperson, and deputy chairperson. Winners will be introduced to delegates on the second day of the convention, Wednesday.

The convention follows a gruelling week of activities within the party, which involved pitting candidates for various party positions against each other through debates that ACT-Wazalendo organised and moderated by some notable names in Tanzania’s journalism.

The debates among party candidates, which many described as unprecedented in the country’s 32 years of political pluralism, kicked off with the contestants for the chairmanship of the party’s Youth Wing and concluded with those who fought for the title of Party Leader. 

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Only one debate didn’t go ahead as announced, the one that concerned the contestants for the party’s national chairmanship, after the incumbent Juma Duni Haji withdrew from the contestation, clearing the path for Othman Masoud Othman to run as a sole candidate.

Earlier, Mr Duni, a respected veteran politician whose name is written in the history of Tanzania’s struggles for liberal politics, complained about being “sabotaged” and people undervaluing his significance. But he gave different reasons for withdrawing from the contestation, including ensuring “party unity.”

This attempt on the part of ACT-Wazalendo, considered the third-largest political party in Tanzania, to build a democratic culture within its ranks occupied a particular focus in the speeches that party leaders and invited dignitaries gave to delegates.

Zitto Kabwe, ACT-Wazalendo’s outgoing party leader, hinted that transforming the party into a genuinely democratic institution will be his legacy as he prepares to pass the mantle to someone else after serving as Party Leader for a decade.

“In the last seven days, ACT-Wazalendo proved to the nation that it is a truly democratic organisation,” Mr Kabwe told the enthusiastic party delegates who listened attentively. “We taught other political parties how to organise an intra-party election and how to conduct civilised campaigns throughout the election period.”

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Intra-party democracy has been an issue of discussion among many observers of Tanzania’s political development, with the common consensus being that many political parties in the East African nation do not practice what they usually preach about democracy within their respective organisations.

A new study on intra-party democracy in Tanzania published this month concluded that party chairperson selections are generally not competitive when assessed against parameters such as incumbent success rate, number of candidates, vote share among them, and the role of party conventions. 

“Specifically, [the] possibility to defeat incumbents is generally very low while the selections mostly feature one candidate who amasses almost all votes,” the study revealed.

But Martha Karua, a prominent Kenyan politician, told party delegates that the lack of intra-party democracy is not just an issue in Tanzania. She noted that the entire East African region experiences a challenge that needs to be urgently addressed.

Karua, one of the dignitaries invited to the convention, said that only parties committed to building a flourishing democratic culture within themselves would be able to take on their respective governments that appear to violate democratic values. 

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She also touched on the importance of establishing sustainable and enduring political parties that are not just aimed at elections but as actual platforms representing people’s concerns and priorities.

“And on this note, I’ve got to admit that Tanzanian political parties are ahead of us in Kenya,” Karua, who ran for deputy presidency in the 2022 Kenyan general elections, said at the convention. “In Kenya, political parties gather people during the elections, and once the elections are over, the parties disappear. We need to follow your example.”

Speaking during the convention, Abdulrahman Kinana, the deputy national chairperson (Tanzania Mainland) of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), commended ACT-Wazalendo for its commitment to propagate issue-based politics, which he admitted to be rare in Tanzania’s political culture.

“As CCM, we don’t take ACT-Wazalendo for granted,” Mr Kinana, recognised as a long-time CCM strategist, told party delegates. “I applaud the party’s willingness to partner with us to form the Government of National Unity in Zanzibar. You put people’s interests before those of the party, and we appreciate that.” 

Lukelo Francis is The Chanzo’s journalist from Dar es Salaam. He is available at lukelo@thechanzo.com.