Tanzania’s opposition party CHADEMA has announced the death of its founder and first chairman, Edwin Mtei, who passed away late Monday night at his home in Tengeru, Arusha Region.
The announcement comes as CHADEMA marks its 33rd anniversary week, culminating on January 21, 2026, the date the party received its permanent registration certificate on January 21, 1993, one year after Tanzania reintroduced multiparty politics.
In a statement, CHADEMA declared seven days of mourning, during which party flags will be flown at half-mast. The party said further details regarding mourning arrangements, public viewing, and burial would be communicated later on Tuesday.
Mtei, who served as CHADEMA’s first chairman, held several senior positions in the government of Tanganyika and later Tanzania. He was the country’s first Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, later served as Secretary General of the former East African Community, and subsequently as Minister of Finance.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan in an official statement conveyed condolences on behalf of the Government and in her personal capacity to Mtei’s family, relatives, friends, and all those affected by the loss. She described Mtei as a distinguished public servant and visionary who played a key role in building Tanzania’s economic and financial institutions and acknowledged his historic contribution to the introduction of multiparty democracy as a founding leader of CHADEMA.
Born on July 12, 1932, in Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region, Mtei began his education at Marangu Native Authority Primary School, then Old Moshi Junior Secondary School, and Tabora Secondary School.
In the 1950s, he pursued higher education at Makerere College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, History, and Geography. In 1958, he briefly worked at East Africa Tobacco in Kenya for less than a year before joining the Tanganyika colonial government service.
One of the most notable episodes of his political career occurred in 1978, during Tanzania’s one-party era, when he left his post as Minister of Finance. At the time, the prevailing narrative was that he had been dismissed by then-President Julius Nyerere for sympathizing with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank during negotiations. However, in his autobiography From Goathead to Governor, Mtei explained that he voluntarily resigned.
Ideologically, Mtei was regarded as right-leaning and was a vocal critic of the Ujamaa socialist policies championed by the ruling party, CCM. This outlook influenced the founding of CHADEMA, which initially emerged as a right-wing party. In the early 2000s, following the entry of various intellectuals and politicians, the party shifted toward a center-right position as a compromise amid internal ideological debates and efforts by some members to steer it to the left.
