Anxiety as Lipumba, Seif meet at CUF’s Dar offices
Prof Ibrahim Lipumba greets his supporters upon arrival at the CUF Buguruni headquarters in Dar es Salaam yesterday. The two rival factions meet today, the first time since the ruling in Zanzibar to boot Prof Lipumba out of the party.
PHOTO| ANTHONY SIAME
What you need to know:
The troubled party’s anti-Lipumba Supreme Governing Body is scheduled to meet at the Buguruni headquarters where the embattled professor and his allies have set up camp
Dar es Salaam. The Civic United Front (CUF)’s headquarters could turn into a battleground today as supporters of rival factions face-off.
CUF secretary general Seif Hamad is expected to lead members of the party’s Supreme Governing Body in a meeting at the Buguruni offices.
This follows the governing body’s ruling at a meeting in Zanzibar to boot out the party’s controversial come-back chairman Prof Ibrahim Lipumba on Monday.
The Registrar of Political Parties last week said it recognised the professor as the chair of the troubled opposition outfit. This was after Prof Lipumba appealed for reinstatement arguing that he had timeously withdrawn his resignation letter, which he submitted to the party leadership last year aheade of the October 25 general election.
The economics profess or has since set camp at the headquarters with the ‘Blue Guards’, a security group allied to him, manning the offices.
Should Mr Hamad show up with his team today, it will be the first time the CUF leaders or their supporters come face to face since the decision to fire Prof Lipumba.
Today’s meeting is supposed to report on matters that were discussed and agreed on in the Isles to the headquarters.
In an interview with journalists yesterday, Prof Lipumba showed no signs of backing down or of a man under siege; instead he postured as the man in charge as he declared today’s planned meeting a non-event.
“I never called for a meeting of the Supreme Governing Body or any other gathering requiring the attendance of MPs, mayors and councillors,” he said, “They are warned not to dare cause chaos within the party premises.”
The professor, however, said the CUF secretary general was welcome because he had an office. “Hopefully, upon arriving we will have time to collectively discuss issues related to developing our party and the country in general,” he added.
On Saturday, the party’s deputy secretary general Nassor Mazrui released a statement to say the Registrar’s decision was illegal, setting the two sides on a collision course.
