Tanzania’s ruling party has called for an extraordinary special congress, which will be held online on July 26, 2025. This marks the third congress held this year, making it a historic record for the party. Not only has the party never convened three congresses in a single election year, but it has also never held one online.
Speaking to the press today, July 25, 2025, the Secretary for Ideology, Publicity, and Training, Amos Makalla, said the congress has been called to amend the party’s constitution.
“In our Constitution, we are allowed to hold such meetings online,” Makalla explained during his press conference held in Dodoma. “And the main agenda of this special General Meeting is minor amendments to the Constitution. Therefore, the agenda of this special General Meeting is only one: minor amendments to the Constitution.”
This special congress is being held online following amendments to the party constitution made on May 29, 2025. During those amendments, the Chairperson of CCM, Samia Suluhu Hassan, explained that political committee meetings, along with regional and district political executive council meetings, would begin using this method.
“Therefore, we have come up with the idea of e-meetings, online meetings, which the organization department is proposing for the following meetings to be held online,” President Samia said.
“The first meeting is the district secretariat; district political committee; regional secretariat; regional political committee; special committee secretariat of the CCM National Executive Council; secretariat of the CCM National Executive Council; special committee of the CCM National Executive Council; central committee of the CCM National Executive Council; CCM National Executive Council; and the National Congress,” added Samia, who is also the President of Tanzania.
“We have included these other meetings with the understanding that as we move forward, we will continue to advance technologically, and that our Constitution gives us the opportunity to formulate rules for these meetings,” President Samia explained. “But for now, we have started with meetings and political committees or regional and district political executive councils. However, those meetings were [initially] not included in the directives of our party’s constitution.”
The announced special congress was not part of the official schedule shared by the party on July 23, 2025, nor was it included in the earlier timetable released after the May 2025 congress. However, the party has since changed its schedule unexpectedly. A key Central Committee meeting, originally planned for July 19, 2025, was postponed following a technical glitch.
READ: CCM Postpones Decisive Meeting Responsible for Nominating Candidates for Party Primaries
These developments come amid heavy criticism from former party insider Humphrey Polepole, who resigned from his position as Tanzania’s Ambassador to Cuba on July 13, 2025. He cited what he described as a “deficit of leadership.” Polepole also claimed that the January 2025 Special Congress, which selected CCM’s presidential candidate, was illegitimate due to procedural irregularities.
When asked which constitutional changes would be made during the congress, Makalla said those details would be disclosed the following day.
“Let me assure you that the preparations have gone well, and tomorrow you will witness Chama Cha Mapinduzi holding a Special National General Meeting of the party online,” Makalla emphasized. “The world is changing, and this party is proving its legacy, its strength, and its ability to keep up with the times.”
