Mbowe: My frustrations and pains

Dar es Salaam. Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe yesterday expressed his frustrations over the ongoing ‘mud-slinging campaigns’ during the intra-party elections, revealing that he was aware of Vice Chairman Tundu Lissu’s plans to run for the chairmanship.

He claimed that individuals he had introduced and helped rise within the party had turned against him, disclosing that they had been using a coordinated group of internet trolls (“troll factory”) to manipulate political opinions and decision-making, aiming to tarnish his political reputation.

The veteran opposition politician rejected claims that division among senior party leaders and concerns that he was assembling a leadership team ahead of the intra-party election were the primary causes of the leadership crisis within the party.

Mr Mbowe made these comments during an interview with Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) journalists on Friday, January 17, 2025, at the company’s headquarters in Tabata Relini, Dar es Salaam.

Responding to a question about Mr Lissu’s decision to challenge his chairmanship, Mr Mbowe said it didn’t come as an accident, rather he saw it coming.

He explained that during Mr Lissu’s interview with KTN television, as he visited the neighbouring Kenya, he was asked why the Tanzanian opposition had weakened compared to 2015.

“Instead of addressing the challenges the country’s opposition had faced during the late President John Magufuli’s regime—including election rigging, targeted attacks on opposition leaders, imprisonments, assassinations, and leaders forced into exile—he stated weakness of opposition leaders was behind the deterioration pledging strong leadership to strengthen the opposition coming 2025,” he said.

“Through such a response, I realised that there was an additional agenda at play and that it was just a matter of time. When you are members of the Central Committee (CC), who collectively participate in party decisions, but then you deny involvement and blame the institution, you can sense an agenda,” he added.

Mr Mbowe said Mr Lissu did not consider any pressing issues, instead, he focused on the weakness of opposition leaders.

He noted that after several public statements, Mr Lissu eventually sought to collect nomination forms, “something I expected. I would have been surprised if he hadn’t.”

Internet trolls

Mr Mbowe claimed that a coordinated group of internet trolls, particularly among the youth, had been organised using fake accounts and Artificial Intelligence to create and spread information to tens of thousands of accounts.

“This way, I have been attacked in attempts to bring down Mbowe by any means possible. Honestly, I have been hit hard,” said Mr Mbowe.

He insisted that despite these efforts to tarnish his reputation, he remained undeterred because voters were the ones who knew the truth.

Furthermore, he stated that external forces had also attempted to destabilise the party by exploiting the weaknesses of key opposition figures who had lost representative opportunities.

“Such issues wouldn’t have existed if these party members had remained lawmakers,” he said, noting that his confidence was that his leadership has built a strong opposition party that can challenge the ruling CCM.

He stressed that Chadema had a strong grassroots presence, despite being an opposition party that did not enjoy the financial resources that CCM has.

He claimed to have built a strong leadership team with at least 4,000 delegates across the country, who had arrived in Dar es Salaam for intra-party elections, starting with elections for youth (Bavicha), elders (Bazecha), and women (Bawacha) leaders.

Leadership team

Regarding the mobilisation of leadership teams, Mr Mbowe acknowledged that the individuals referred to in the leadership oust plan were senior, influential, and competent cadres in their respective areas of expertise, though they did not have more rights than any other members.

“Godbless Lema was the weakest zone leader who had failed even to form committees to oversee the zone. How many meetings has Mr Lema organised online while in exile or physically after his return?” he questioned.

“It wasn’t Mbowe who rejected him, rather the regional leaders from Manyara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, and Tanga who rejected him due to his inefficiency,” he added.

What Lema said

But, in a quick rejoinder, Mr Lema said after being elected as the Northern Chairman, they participated in the 2019 Local Government Elections, while also attending to his court cases.

“After the 2019 elections, no region had formed those committees, and then we moved into the 2020 general election. Things became difficult, and we all fled—myself to Nairobi (Kenya) and later to Canada, while he (Mr Mbowe) went to Nairobi and then Dubai,” he said.

“When I returned in 2023, I found other regions had formed committees in December 2022. After three months, we formed our committee, but as the party had no funds, only one committee was operational. However, I carried out party operations and kept him updated,” he added.

Heche and Msigwa

Mr Mbowe explained that he appointed former youth wing chairperson John Heche to become a CC member after losing the Serengeti Constituency chairmanship to Ms Esther Matiko.

“Later on, I picked Mr Heche a member of the reconciliation team. Despite all this, he never mentioned to me if he had plans to stand for the Serengeti Constituency position. As the party’s national leader, I’m obliged to ensure strong members contest and become members of the CC, that is why  I advised Bob Wangwe to contest, for the party to enjoy his experience in working with non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations,” he said.

“It wasn’t his seat. Matiko is no longer there, but he didn’t disclose his intentions to me. My thought was to bring in individuals with diverse experiences in the CC after seeing lighter candidates expressing their interests,” he added.

According to Mr Mbowe, former Nyasa Zone Chairman and CC member, Mr Peter Msigwa faced a challenge from former Mbeya Urban MP Joseph Mbilinyi, alias Sugu.

“He is an experienced lawmaker, having served the constituency for three terms of five years, and a role model to many Tanzanian artists. His capabilities and victory cannot be disputed,” he said.

Reconciliation

Mr Mbowe also insisted that reconciliation efforts were coordinated by the party’s CC, with agendas approved by the CC meetings that were also served with negotiation development reports.

“During the discussions, there were issues that had to be resolved urgently in the first phase, while others would follow in the second phase. These included returning opposition cadres from exile, freeing imprisoned opposition members, reinstating political rallies and activities, and dropping all political cases facing the opposition,” he said.

“We had made significant progress in the talks before the process stalled due to CCM conservatives’ fear of changes and the potential loss of their positions. However, critics within Chadema have turned this matter into Mr Mbowe’s issue,” he added.

He refuted claims of being soft on the government, recounting the over Sh24 billion loss he sustained during Magufuli’s regime from his businesses. “What honey would I have been offered to soften me?”

Regarding the future of reconciliation, Mr Mbowe suggested that alliances and collaboration with other stakeholders, including political parties, NGOs, civil society organisations, clergymen, and others, should be the focus.

“The new constitution is an inclusive issue, which demands the involvement of every stakeholder, whether you like it or not. If I become a leader for another term, there is no way I will avoid sitting at the table for dialogue,” he said.