Dar es Salaam – Tributes are being paid across the political spectrum for Edwin Mtei, a founder of the main opposition party CHADEMA, who died late on Monday, January 19, 2026, at his home in Arusha.
His death has cast a spotlight on a life defined by a courageous, and often perilous struggle for political freedom in a nation long dominated by a single party.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan led the nation in mourning, describing Mr Mtei as a “distinguished public servant and visionary” who played a key role in building the country’s economic institutions and acknowledged his “historic contribution to the introduction of multiparty democracy.”
The East African Community (EAC), where Mtei served as the first Secretary-General from 1967 to 1971, also paid homage, stating his leadership “laid the foundations for regional cooperation and integration, leaving a legacy that will continue to inspire generations.”
However, it was his role in challenging the one-party state, at immense personal cost, that has formed the centrepiece of the remembrances. A former cabinet minister and stalwart of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, Anna Tibaijuka, revealed the profound personal toll of Mr Mtei’s political convictions.
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In a statement, she recounted how he was betrayed by infiltrators planted within his own party who sought to sabotage his work by labelling him a thief, despite him funding the party with his own money.
The shock and distress were so severe, she explained, that it caused him to fall into a coma and be hospitalised in Nairobi for three months before recovering to continue his fight.
This struggle was most famously crystallised in the landmark 1993 High Court case, Mabere Nyaucho Marando and Edwin Mtei v The Attorney General. At a time when the ruling party dominated all aspects of public life, including the state broadcaster Radio Tanzania, Mr Mtei and his co-petitioner challenged the legal framework that stifled political opposition.
They argued successfully that requiring police permits for public assemblies was unconstitutional.
The court’s ruling was a watershed moment for civil liberties in Tanzania. It established that political parties only needed to provide police with sufficient notice to hold a rally, not seek their permission.
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The judgment directly confronted the state’s apparatus of control and has since been cited as a vital precedent in legal arguments for freedom of assembly by pro-democracy actors across the African continent.
Mr Mtei’s willingness to challenge authority was evident long before the advent of multiparty politics. In 1978, he took the extraordinary step of resigning as Minister of Finance during the one-party era of President Julius Nyerere.
This act of principled defiance stemmed from his disagreement with the government’s economic policies and its rejection of advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In his autobiography, From Goatherd to Governor, he detailed his conviction that the chosen path would be detrimental to the nation, a stance that set him apart as a man of unshakeable principle.
Born in humble circumstances in 1932, Mr Mtei’s rise to become the first Governor of the Bank of Tanzania and a pivotal figure in the nation’s political evolution is a remarkable story of intellect and determination.
His passing, which coincides with the 33rd anniversary of CHADEMA receiving its permanent registration, has prompted a period of national reflection on the sacrifices made to secure the democratic freedoms enjoyed today.
Freeman Mbowe, the former national chairperson of CHADEMA, remembered his predecessor as a man who “was not one for quarrels” but for principled debate on policy.
“He was a man who could afford a comfortable life,” Mr Mbowe said in a statement to reporters, “but he chose to engage in the politics of reform in that difficult environment, which makes him a very unique person.”
