Dar es Salaam. Tanzanians have had enough of the pain and suffering that the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has subjected them to for years, said ACT Wazalendo party leader Dorothy Semu Thursday while announcing her 2025 presidential bid, noting that she has what it takes to ease such pain as a president.
During a press conference at the party’s headquarters in the city, Ms Semu, a former civil servant turned politician, presented four agenda items that drove her to decide to run for president in the general elections later this year.
These are the prolonged recession that Tanzania continues to experience, the high cost of living crisis that affects millions of Tanzanians, mass youth unemployment, and the mismanagement of national resources.
Ms Semu, who worked in the government for 17 years before quitting public service and joining active politics, blamed the problems on the absence of strong investment policies in Tanzania, unsatisfactory implementation of development projects, the failure of the current government to invest massively in employment-creating sectors, and unchecked corruption and embezzlement in the government.
“Brothers and sisters, Tanzania needs a new and refined leadership which will protect the national interest, build a strong economy, produce equal opportunities for society’s members, and build transparent governance,” Ms Semu, who hails from Kilimanjaro, northern Tanzania, announced.
“We can change this situation by working together to eliminate these challenges and improve our nation’s future,” she added. “I’m ready to face President Samia Suluhu Hassan in the upcoming elections of 2025, provided that my party, ACT Wazalendo, nominates me as its presidential candidate.”
Ms Semu’s announcement to run for president comes a few days after ACT Wazalendo invited any party members who wish to run for public offices in the upcoming election on the party’s ticket should publicly express such an intention before the party implements other procedural arrangements.
The announcement concerned those considering running for president, Members of Parliament, the Zanzibar House of Representatives, and councillors.
Semu’s announcement also follows that of Othman Masound Othman, ACT Wazalendo national chairperson, who, on January 2, 2025, sought the party’s permission to run for Zanzibar’s president in the 2025 elections.
Born in 1975, Ms Semu served several posts within ACT-Wazalendo, including as party leader, to which she was elected during a party conference on March 7, 2024. In the election, Semu garnered 354 votes, equivalent to 65.7 per cent of all votes cast, against her opponent’s 184, or 34.3 per cent of the votes.
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She has also served as the party’s secretary-general and deputy national chairperson (Tanzania Mainland). In 2022, she was appointed Prime Minister of the party’s shadow cabinet, which was created to ensure accountability within the government.
During her press conference Thursday, Semu said she is the right person to confront President Samia, CCM’s likely presidential candidate, in the upcoming general elections, believing that her decade-long political life has equipped her with the skills and tools necessary to ensure electoral victories.
“I’ve been a leader in and outside politics,” Ms Semu said.
“I believe I’m well prepared, properly groomed, and I have a political party with the best policies and manifestos, which on numerous occasions have demonstrated to be different from other parties,” she added. “First, in managing itself, and, secondly, in developing policies that signal hope for a better future.”
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Please let’s have clear photos published on your feature headlines without words pasted over pictures. Good idea to separate pictures from texts. Makes it more professional and presentable. Thanks to you all.