Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on July 23, 2025.
Polepole: I Tabled My Resignation While in Tanzania, I am in Morogoro
In a conversation with Jenerali Ulimwengu Exclusive on The Chanzo on July 22, 2025, Humphrey Polepole, the former Ambassador of Tanzania to Cuba, revealed that he is currently in Morogoro and that he submitted his resignation at the moment when he was in the country.
“By the time I submitted my letter, which I made public and addressed to the Honorable President, I had already returned home. So I am in Tanzania,” Polepole said when asked about his whereabouts, which has remained a subject of speculation.
He added: “Right now, as I speak, I am in Morogoro, but God willing, in the coming few days I will be in Dar es Salaam, where I will be staying for a longer period.”
Since tendering his resignation, Polepole has continued to engage with the Tanzanian public from an undisclosed location. This has led to various speculations, with many people assuming he is outside the country. He had to refute rumors that he had sought refuge in Sweden. Following an attempted abduction of his sister, Polepole said the police had asked him to show up so that they could offer him protection.
In the interview, Polepole maintained that Tanzania is suffering from a leadership crisis, which, in his view, causes other systems to fall apart. He claimed he had long tolerated the situation while raising concerns through official channels, but the ruling party CCM’s January 2025 congress was the final trigger for his resignation.
Polepole argues that the congress, during which President Samia Suluhu Hassan was nominated as the CCM’s 2025 presidential candidate, was invalid due to procedural irregularities. He emphasized that the party should have allowed new candidates to rejuvenate its leadership.
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INEC Intensifies October Election Efforts; Judge Mwambegele Stresses Engagement with Political Parties
The Chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hon. Court of Appeal Judge Jacobs Mwambegele, has urged officials overseeing the 2025 general elections to engage with political party leaders to discuss key issues, including ensuring that party primaries are conducted in accordance with the law.
Judge Mwambegele issued these directives on behalf of the Commission while concluding a three-day training for election officials in Shinyanga Region on July 23, 2025.
The training sessions have been conducted in various regions across the country in two phases involving election coordinators, returning officers, and assistant returning officers at the constituency level.
“You are required to apply the knowledge gained from this training in your day-to-day election duties by starting with meetings with political parties, distributing nomination forms, and overseeing the nomination of parliamentary candidates. Ensure that the issuing of nomination forms and the nomination process at the ward level is carried out in line with legal provisions,” he stated.
Judge Mwambegele reminded the officials of their duty to train polling station officials and to coordinate and manage elections at the polling station level with professionalism and competence.
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Minister Kombo to Lead SADC Peace Talks in Dar es Salaam
Ambassador Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (MP), Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, is set to preside over the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO) on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation, which begins today at Julius Nyerere International Conference Center(JNICC) in Dar es Salaam.
According to Minister Kombo, the two-day meeting will deliberate on the state of peace and security in the SADC region, assess achievements and challenges in implementing SADC’s mandates, explore strategies for conflict prevention, management, and resolution, and strengthen early warning systems across political, security, social, and economic sectors.
The ministerial session follows a preparatory meeting of SADC Senior Officials, held from July 21 to 22, chaired by Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Dr. Samwel Shelukindo.
Other key items on the agenda include reviewing progress on the implementation of decisions made at previous meetings of the MCO, the Council of Ministers, and the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government. The ministers will also assess the region’s political landscape and discuss efforts to promote democracy and good governance.
The meeting is being hosted in Tanzania as the country currently chairs the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security. President Samia Suluhu Hassan assumed the chairmanship of the Organ on August 18, 2024, for a one-year term.
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