Prominent Tanzanian businessman and former ruling party stalwart Rostam Aziz has lashed out at former ambassador to Cuba, Humphrey Polepole, questioning his legitimacy to criticize the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), following his resignation earlier this July.
Rostam, who served as a CCM Member of Parliament for 18 years, held the position of CCM National Treasurer, and was a long-serving member of both the National Executive Council (NEC) and Central Committee, dismissed Polepole’s criticisms, stating that he barely knew him until he was appointed CCM’s Ideology and Publicity Secretary after the 2015 general elections.
Speaking to Azam Media on August 3, 2025, Rostam described Polepole as part of an “invasive leadership class” that infiltrated CCM post-2015 and were handed influential positions despite lacking deep knowledge of the party’s history and culture.
“When he talks about the traditions and practices of CCM, I wonder how would someone who was never involved with this party until he was appointed as the publicity secretary even begin to understand our values and traditions?” Rostam posed.
Although Polepole claims to have joined CCM in the early 2000s and worked extensively with civil society organizations across Africa, his rise to prominence came after his appointment to the Constitutional Review Commission known as the Warioba Commission in 2012. He later joined the presidential campaign team in 2015, coordinating CCM’s messaging in support of then-presidential candidate John Magufuli.
Rostam’s remarks come in the wake of increasing criticism from Polepole since his resignation from diplomatic service. Polepole has taken to social media to scrutinize CCM’s internal presidential candidate selection process. He has argued for a leadership renewal within the party every ten years, suggesting CCM should embrace change and allow for fresh faces in its top leadership.
READ MORE: Polepole:I Tabled My Resignation While in Tanzania, I am in Morogoro
Rostam, however, firmly rejected this narrative, asserting that President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s leadership since taking office in 2021 following the death of Magufuli, has brought about significant economic progress. He labeled criticisms of CCM’s presidential candidate selection as baseless and driven by “jealousy and malice.”
“Let us ignore the critics,” Rostam said. “They are fueled by envy and resentment.”
Polepole has recently intensified his critiques, alleging the continued existence of a “network” within CCM that has, since 1995, tried to manipulate presidential candidate selections to favor its own members.
He claimed that this group often bypasses party traditions and norms. However, according to Polepole, the network was unsuccessful in 1995 due to the intervention of CCM’s founding father, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who was still alive at the time and ensured the party’s systems were upheld. He further stated that the network also failed again in 2015, following significant efforts by a few senior CCM loyalists who intervened to protect the party’s traditions and principles.
Rostam stepped away from active politics in 2011, resigning from both his parliamentary seat and party positions, citing “dirty politics” within CCM, particularly after the party’s poor showing in the 2010 elections that marked the start of President Jakaya Kikwete’s second term.
READ MORE: Edward Lowassa’s Contested Political Legacy
That electoral performance sparked internal reform movements within CCM, with figures like Rostam and former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa blamed for the party’s setbacks. This led to CCM’s infamous “kujivua gamba” (shedding the skin) slogan, which urged certain leaders to resign to give the party a fresh start.
Rostam and Lowassa share a long political history, having been close allies of Kikwete since the 1995 race for CCM’s presidential ticket, where Kikwete lost to Benjamin Mkapa. Unlike Lowassa, who defected to opposition party CHADEMA in 2015 after being blocked early in the presidential nomination process—only to return to CCM later—Rostam has never publicly renounced his membership and royalty to CCM, despite stepping down from leadership roles over a decade ago.
