Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on July 29, 2025.
Over 40 CCM Members of Parliament Axed as Hundreds of Other Aspirants Move to Party Primaries. Talks of ‘Dynasty Politics’ Emerge
Over 40 Members of Parliament have been axed by CCM’s Central Committee, while hundreds of other aspirants have advanced to party primaries in an internal election tightly controlled by the party’s top leadership.
Some of the high-profile names dropped were considered to have stronger political influence in their constituencies compared to those who advanced to the primaries.
One such figure is Luhaga Mpina, a name many had been waiting to see if the ruling party’s Central Committee would endorse. Mpina, who has built a strong following as one of CCM’s most popular MPs, clashed with the CCM Chairperson in June 2025 when he broke from the norm of praising the leadership and instead demanded the fulfillment of campaign promises. President Samia reportedly did not appreciate Mpina’s stance—though it was well-received by his constituents—and called for a different candidate. Seven names have now been returned to contest the Kisesa constituency seat. Speaking to The Chanzo after the news broke, Mpina said he had nothing to comment on as he had just received the information.
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CHADEMA Criticizes INEC’s Voter Statistics
Tanzania’s main opposition party, CHADEMA, which maintains the position of “No Reforms, No Election”, has rejected the voter register statistics released by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), arguing that the figures contradict the data from the 2022 Population and Housing Census.
Speaking on behalf of CHADEMA, the party’s Director of Training and Organization, John Pambalu, stated that the number of registered voters released by INEC exceeds the number of people aged 14 and above reported in the 2022 census.
“Even if no one had emigrated, no one had died, and absolutely nothing had changed — and we considered only Tanzanians aged 14 — and among them, only those aged 15 and above are eligible to vote, that group totals 35 million. Then we are told by Judge Mwambegele [INEC Chairperson] that 37 million Tanzanians have registered. So where did the extra 2.6 million people come from, exceeding the number of those eligible to vote according to the Government’s own census?” said Pambalu.
On July 26, 2025, INEC announced that a total of 37,655,559 voters had registered in the permanent voter register, representing a 26.55 percent increase from the 29.7 million voters registered in 2020.
“The report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) says that no country in the world can achieve 100 percent voter registration among its eligible population,: insisted Pambalu, ‘That would make us the first country in the world to achieve this,”
Defectors to CCM from ‘Group of 19 MPs’ Pass Central Committee Vetting
Thirteen Special Seats Members of Parliament from the so-called “Group of 19 MPs” who were expelled from CHADEMA in 2020 and later defected to CCM, have passed the vetting process conducted by the Central Committee of the National Executive Council (NEC) of CCM.
The group, which declared their intention to contest parliamentary and special seats in the 2025 general elections under the CCM banner, will now proceed to the next stage of the party’s nomination process — the internal primaries.
Announcing the names on July 29, 2025, the CCM Secretary for Ideology, Publicity and Training, Amos Makalla, mentioned eleven former CHADEMA MPs passed the screening for constituency parliamentary seats, while two others advanced in the internal primaries process for special seats at the regional level.
Those who qualified to run for constituency seats include Esther Matiko for Tarime Urban, Esther Bulaya for Bunda Urban, Nusrati Hanje for Ikungi East, Jesca Kishoa for Iramba East, Hawa Mwaifunga for Tabora Urban, and Cecilia Paresso for Karatu. Others are Kunti Majala for Chemba, Grace Tendega for Kalenga, Felister Njau for Moshi Rural, Sophia Mwakagenda for Rungwe, and Stella Fiyao for Ileje.
Meanwhile, Salome Makamba was approved to vie for a special seat in Shinyanga Region, while Tunza Malapo was cleared for a special seat in Mtwara Region.
These aspirants are set to compete in the party’s opinion polls scheduled for August 4, 2025, where CCM delegates will cast their votes to determine the party’s official candidates.
This is it for today, and we hope you enjoyed our briefing. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter (see left), following us on X (Twitter) (here), or you can support us (here). And if you have any questions or comments, please drop a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
