Lipumba: If CUF gets a better candidate I’ll step down

The Civic United Front (CUF) chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba.

What you need to know:

  • The Civic United Front (CUF) chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, has said that he is willing to step down if the party finds a more appealing candidate to represent it in the 2020 General Election. Prof Lipumba, who was once an asset politically before he voluntarily stepped down during the countdown to the 2015 general election but subsequently returned to the party’s chairmanship in questionable circumstances, has also said that the CUF secretary general, Mr Maalim Seif Hamad is free to decamp to Chadema if he so wishes to.

Dar es Salaam. The Civic United Front (CUF) chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, has announced he is ready to step down if the party finds a more appealing candidate to represent it in the 2020 General Election.

Mr Lipumba said this on Tuesday September 25, when briefing journalists on the general leadership committee meeting which was held between 21-22 this month.

“If a viable contestant wants to vie for the presidential position I'm ready to step down in 2020 because it's a way of practicing democracy,” he declared.

"As long as a person qualifies and CUF members are not against such a person, I will not contest for the position in the next General Election," he added.

Mr Lipumba also stressed that if the secretary general Malim Seif wanted to move to Chadema, he could just go because it would not affect CUF.

"CUF will not collapse if  Malim Self  goes to Chadema because the origin of the party is Zanzibar… therefore, if he is willing to move let him go," he said.

Explaining further, he said that they did not  intend to withdraw from any elections  because it cost them a lot.

"Though several conspiracies have been going about the recent by-elections, we will ensure that we participate in every poll because so far we do not have representatives in most areas of the country,” he said.

He, however, asked the government and the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) to ensure they were implementing laws and regulations accordingly to avoid unnecessary accidents.

Speaking on MV Nyerere accident, which claimed many lives due to overloading, he said if the government and responsible authorities had good strategies such accidnets would not happen.