All eyes on Dodoma as CCM holds top meeting

Dodoma. All eyes are now on the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) secretariat as the ruling party is holding its general meeting, which will elect top leaders, followed by subsequent appointment of the party executives.
Already, President Samia Suluhu Hassan is the only candidate for the post of chairperson as the party’s central committee also approved Abdulrahman Kinana to retain his post as vice chairperson for Tanzania mainland.
Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi is also the only candidate for the chairperson post in the islands to replace former president Ali Mohammed Shein whose tenure ends today.
The meeting will also elect members of the CCM National Executive Committee (NEC), in which 2,703 names were approved to contest 30 seats, according to the party’s publicity and ideology secretary, Mr Shaka Hamdu Shaka who briefed reporters yesterday.
Normally, the election of top leaders is followed by the appointment of the party executives by the chairperson.
These executives range from secretary general, deputy secretary general, ideology and publicity secretary, the head of the party organisation, economy and finance as well as the secretary for political affairs and international relations.
The secretary general is the party’s top executive who oversees operations of the party.
It is not clear whether President Hassan, who is the party chairperson, will retain Mr Daniel Chongolo as the secretary general; Ms Christina Mndeme as deputy secretary general for mainland; Mr Abdallah Juma Saadala (Mabodi) as deputy secretary general for Zanzibar and Mr Shaka Hamdu Shaka as the party’s ideology and publicity secretary. While the chairperson and vice chairpersons hold office  for five years, the appointment of the party executives is normally done depending on the performance of the respective post holders and to fit the existing circumstances.
When President Jakaya Kikwete came into power in 2005, he worked with Philip Mangula who was the existing secretary general, but he replaced him with Yusuf Makamba when he was approved chairman in 2007.
Mr Kikwete also replaced Yusuf Makamba with Mr Wilson Mukama (2011-2012) who was followed by Mr Kinana who championed rebranding, repositioning and repackaging campaign in an attempt to clean-up the party.
The tenure of Mr Kinana ended when former president John Magufuli became the chairperson and appointed the University of Dar es Salaam lecturer, Dr Ally Bashiru, to the post.
When President Hassan became the party chairperson last year, she appointed Mr Chongolo to replace Dr Bashiru.
The anticipated changes of the executives is currently seen imminent in an attempt to rearrange for the 2025 general election.