Will Lema keep his stranglehold on Arusha City?

Arusha. Arusha City is among the parliamentary constituencies which Tanzanians are waiting with bated breath to see who will become its Member of Parliament post-the October 28 elections this year.

The constituency is among seven others in Arusha Region, all of which have been under Chadema since the 2010 elections.

In the constituency, despite having 14 candidates who were endorsed by the National Electoral Commission (NEC), only two candidates are on people’s lips. They are Godbless Lema (Chadema), and Mrisho Gambo (CCM).

But, there are other contestants as well. These are Zuberi Mwinyi (Ada-Tadea), Husna Kundi (AAFP), Shayo John (ACT-Wazalendo), Matato Richard (CCK) Maghdalena Shanghai (CUF), Elisante Mjema (Demokrasia Makini).

Also in the list are Mkama Richard (NRA), Simon Bayo (SAU) Alfred Mollel (UDP), Elias Sumari (UPDP), Elizabeth Godfrey (DP) and Epsiba Kiwhelu (NCCR- Mageuzi).

The battle between Mr Lema and Mr Gambo has been on the cards since the latter was appointed the Arusha regional commissioner in 2016.

The first public disagreement between the two youthful politicians started during the laying down of a foundation for the construction of a child and maternal hospital in the Burka area on the outskirts of Arusha.

In the incident that took place on October 19, 2016, Mr Lema publicly challenged Mr Gambo, protesting against not being identified as one of the founders of the project after he endorsed the land where a hospital was to be built. It was handed over to him by the Mawalla Foundation.

Mr Gambo - who was the guest of honour at the event - narrated the history of the project in his speech without mentioning Mr Lema.

However, the misunderstanding between the two was quelled by donors who had volunteered to build the hospital, the Maternity Africa Institute and some government officials who attended the event.

Since that incident, the relationship between the two leaders has been strained and several times Mr Lema has been arrested by the police on various charges including using abusive messages against Mr Gambo.

Each of these candidates has something to be proud of in Arusha constituency and thus believes they will be elected to be the constituency MP.

Mr Lema, who has been a Member of Parliament for Arusha constituency since 2010, has invested heavily in attracting young people to participate in politics, especially the opposition.

In the 10 years of Mr Lema, the Chadema party became stronger all the way to the 2015 general election, winning 24 out of 25 wards and leading the city of Arusha.

But also during his parliamentary term Mr Lema, Arusha city council, has been among the councils that have not received disqualified certificate and was among the councils that were leading in the country several times.

Good management of various projects in the city of Arusha, including the construction of primary and secondary schools is one of the major milestones of Arusha city councillors between 2010 to 2020.

In the past 10 years, Mr Lema worked in solidarity with his councillors who oversaw the implementation of development projects and many were his friends with whom he started the opposition politics.

However, in 2019, many councillors including Mr Lema’s close friends, such as former Arusha Mayor Kalist Lazaro, deputy mayor Prosper Msofe and more than 13 other councillors resigned and joined CCM.

However, despite their defection, the city of Arusha has remained under Chadema until the council was dissolved.

During his parliamentary term, Arusha city collections increased in tandem with controlling acts of misconduct by city officials and councillors.

Gambo’s footmarks

Mr Gambo was able to establish himself during his tenure as the Arusha RC by establishing and managing a number of development projects in education, health and infrastructure sectors.

During his tenure in the region before he was ousted in June this year, Mr Gambo had already been able to initiate the construction of the Murieti health centre, the construction of a paved road in the Murieti area and Kwa Mrombo where he resides.

During the same period, Mr Gambo was able to establish a secondary school at Olasiti Ward named Mrisho Gambo, but he was also able to coordinate the construction of an Arusha city hospital.

However, during his tenure as Arusha RC, despite getting into conflicts with government officials and the city council, he was also able to set up projects to support women and youth.

Mr Gambo was able to set up a scheme to lend 400 motorcycles to the youth of Arusha city and provide affordable loans to mothers in Arusha.

As the RC, Mr Gambo was able to restore the status of CCM in the city of Arusha where previously CCM cadres could not walk cross the streets wearing party colours.

However, following his disagreements with the former Arusha district commissioner, Mr Gabriel Daqarro and city director Dr Maulid Madeni, he was kicked out in June 2020.

Challenges facing Arusha

Despite the efforts of the government and politicians to spur development in the city of Arusha, there are still a number of challenges that are expected to emerge in the campaign.

Some of the challenges are unemployment and inadequate space for small businesses.

The city of Arusha also still faces the challenge of lack of a modern bus station because the project has stalled due to officials being embroiled in conflicts.

The dispute in the area stems from Mr Gambo’s stance that a bus station should be built at Olasiti, while other city and district officials, including Mr Lema, wanted a bus station to be built at Bondeni City on the new East African road.

In Arusha, there is also still a challenge of access to water services despite the government providing Sh540 billion to address the crisis.

Besides, the region faces scarcity of land and open spaces especially after the sale of several open spaces between 2000 and 2005.

The city of Arusha, as is in other cities, still has the challenge of lacking proper sewage management systems, a situation that is causing chaos in many areas during the rainy season.

The slowdown in tourism is one of the biggest challenges in Arusha, especially due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving hundreds of young people unemployed.

Civilised campaigns.

Despite their misunderstandings, all the candidates after being nominated, have pledged to conduct civilized campaigns without resorting to violence.

Speaking to Mwananchi in separate occasions, with each one promising to win, they said they want this year to have civilised elections that will not lead to blood shedding in the top tourists city.

Mr Lema said he wanted to see all electoral bodies act fairly so that peace could be maintained and that his party was gearing up for victory.

For his part, Mr Gambo said the time for violence and protests had passed in Arusha because this time around the campaigns will favour CCM.

“We have a very simple task to explain the things that the government has done in Arusha and show it in action, but we will also listen to the grievances of the people that we will continue to resolve after the election,” he said.

Polling stations

Arusha constituency election commissioner John Pima said the city of Arusha in this year’s general election will have 910 polling stations.

Dr Pima said the stations have increased from 719 polling stations in the 2015 general election mainly due to an increase in voter turnout.

In the 2015 general election, the number of registered voters in Arusha constituency was 321,575, but this time they have increased further.

“We have a large number of voters which is why we have added 191 stations and each station has an average of 450 voters,” he said.

Arusha constituency

Since the introduction of the multiparty political system in 1995, Arusha has had a number of Members of Parliament, including former secretary general of the veteran ruling Party of the Revolution, CCM: Abrahman Kinana.

Others are (with their parties shown in brackets): Makongoro Nyerere (NCCR-Mageuzi), Felix Mrema - and, now, Godbless Lema - (Chadema). Godbless Lema has been MP for Arusha constituency for two five-year terms since 2010.