ACT leader tells members to avoid pro-democracy demos

ACT-Wazalendo leader Zitto Kabwe.

What you need to know:

  • In a memo dispatched to all party members, Mr Zitto, however urged ACT-Wazalendo members to continue demanding the same through peaceful means.
  • He told the members that in whatever measures they were planning to take to show their discontent over the way President John Magufuli and his government have been trampling democracy, they should stick to peaceful means.

Dar es Salaam. ACT-Wazalendo leader Zitto Kabwe has asked members across the country to distance themselves from operations by other parties seeking to use demonstrations as a way of pressing for wider democracy in the country.

In a memo dispatched to all party members, Mr Zitto, however urged ACT-Wazalendo members to continue demanding the same through peaceful means.

He told the members that in whatever measures they were planning to take to show their discontent over the way President John Magufuli and his government have been trampling democracy, they should stick to peaceful means.

“In our Mbagala rally we came out with a call to all parties to unite their forces against what we detected as a mission to muzzle democracy in the country. No one supported us. Now that some parties have started to agitate for some measures, I want to remind our members that we (ACT-Wazalendo) are not part of such efforts,” he said.

In his capacity as the party leader, Mr Zitto is constitutionally empowered to issue directives to all ACT-Wazalendo members at any time he deems fit.

“ACT-Wazalendo was formed on the basis of restoring democratic principles. Through our Tabora Declaration, which revives the Arusha Declaration, we have described foundations of our strategies. I direct all ACT-Wazalendo members to carefully read, comprehend and analyse it in the context of the prevailing political conditions in the country,” urged Mr Zitto in the statement.

He also called upon all ACT-Wazalendo members to show solidarity with Zanzibaris as the Isles was going through testing times after the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) annulled last year’s general election results and and called for rerun polls that were boycotted by many opposition parties.

Mr Zitto said ACT-Wazalendo should focus on Zanzibar because what was going on there was breach of democratic principles which the party seeks to uphold.

“The stand of our party (on Zanzibar) is formation of an interim government which should prepare rerun elections which will be supervised by the United Nations under an independent electoral body,” he said.

He also asked members to be prepared for inspection conducted by the office of Registrar of Political Parties, noting that that was another strategy used by the State to patronise political outfits.

He also said each ACT-Wazalendo member should support decisions by the government or any other political party, which conforms with the Tabora Declaration, especially war on grand corruption and restoration of the national leadership ethics.

“Let us not leave others to hijack our agenda. But we should be happy when our agenda is implemented by others as this shows that our party is deep in its thinking,” he said.