Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has appointed Faris Buruhani, the chairperson of the party’s youth wing in Kagera Region, as the new national secretary-general of the Umoja wa Vijana wa CCM (UVCCM), replacing Halid Said Mwinyi.
According to a statement issued by CCM, the appointment was made by the party’s Central Committee during a special meeting held on October 11, 2026, in Kizimkazi, Zanzibar.
Mwinyi’s departure from the position follows his appointment as CCM regional secretary for Kigoma.
Buruhani’s appointment has drawn attention partly because of remarks he made in April 2025, when he appeared to suggest that police should not search for people who are forcibly disappeared after criticising or insulting political leaders online.
“If there is anyone who thinks they have the freedom to sit online with their phone, spending the whole day insulting leaders, when we forcibly disappear them, the police should not look for them. Clap for CCM,” Buruhani said during a public rally in Kagera Region on April 16, 2024.
The remarks prompted condemnation from then CCM Secretary-General Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi, who rejected the suggestion that people who criticised political leaders online should be subjected to enforced disappearance.
“We will oppose it and we must see it as foolish utterance because, at the end of the day, this country belongs to all of us. This country is not owned by any political party, not by religion, not by tribe; it is our country, all of us,” Nchimbi said.
Buruhani also sought CCM’s nomination to contest the Bukoba Vijijini parliamentary seat in Kagera Region during the party’s 2025 candidate selection process.
He finished second in the party’s primary elections, securing 4,619 votes against 6,465 won by Dkt. Jasson Rwekiza, who emerged as the leading candidate.
Beyond the youth-wing appointment, CCM’s Central Committee also selected Dr. Nettho Ndijina Ndilito as the party’s candidate for the upcoming by-election in Chamwino Constituency.
The seat became vacant following the appointment of its former MP, Deogratius Ndejembi, as Vice-President of the United Republic of Tanzania.
