Be ready for big surprise, says Zitto

Dar es Salaam. Political parties and other players who will be underestimating the newest entrant in the political arena, Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo) will be doing so at their own peril.

The party leader, Mr Zitto Kabwe, told editors during a dinner organised by the party in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday that those who have been playing the party down should be prepared for a big surprise.

“With this new party we intend to come up with new kind of politics in the country,” said Mr Kabwe, who was recently sacked from Chadema, a party which he joined since he was 16 years old.

Among issues which the new party will stand to gain from, according to the ACT supremo and party chief advisor, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, is the ideology which revolves around a plan to revive Ujamaa – socialism.

Asked if the ideology won’t put off Tanzanians who have a negative perception of the system, Mr Kabwe noted that the party stands for an alternative type of socialism to what Tanzania practiced.

He explained that socialism failed because Tanzania decided to focus on privatisation and not liberalisation.

“If we liberalise we will have public firms competing with private firms and this will stimulate the economy. When you privatise all the firms you kill competition and such firms will be complacent,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Zitto revealed that ACT was his brainchild, which he prepared specifically after he noticed that his future in Chadema was bleak.

“As a politician you don’t expect me to sit and wait to be sacked. As a politician I need a platform through which I can work,” he said.

ACT was basically put in place by Prof Kitila and Mr Samsom Mwigamba, who serves as secretary general after both of them got the sack from Chadema for “disloyalty”.

Meanwhile, the party national chairperson, Ms Anna Mghwira, told the editors that they intend to use their philosophy and ideology to take the country back to the roots, where it was managed basing on well-articulated and understood principles.

“We are now like a nation without an ideol ogy. We want to change that ad let me insist that accountability and making wananchi own and manage their economy will be central to our policies,” she said, said the chairperson.

Ms Mghwira brushed aside reports that she has been elected into the post just as a puppet because all the powers in the party will be vested in party leader Kabwe. .

“I regard such reports as mere propaganda. Those who are circulating such information are oblivious of ACT leadership system and its modus operand,” she said, noting that she was proud to be the first woman to nationally chair a political party in the country.

Elaborating, Prof Mkumbo noted that the leadership system in ACT has been created in order to separate responsibilities and undertakings between the party and the government in case it wins election.

He said as norm would have it, most political parties in Africa become ‘state parties’ after wining election with no demarcation of responsibilities of party and the government.

“Under our system, the party leader will in the meantime deal with spreading ideology and policies and strengthening the party while the chairperson deals with operations.

“When we form the government, the party leaders, upon elected a President, will focus on government acrt8ivitirs while the chairperson continued to deal with party affairs. Such a system is only new in Tanzania but it is common in other places including neighbouring Kenya where Raila Odinga does not serve as the chairman of ODB but rather a party leader,” he said.

Prof Mkumbo said as far as things are going, leaders in ACT are p0leased that after the party was officially launched, public political debates have dramatically changed from discussing events and people to discussing issues.

“For instance, people are now debating if it is possible to revive socialism in the country. People are also talking about the new leadership system introduced by ACT. It is such debates which we intended to promote in order to change political scenario in the country,” he said.

For his part, Mr Mwigamba said the part will today embark on a tour of 10 regions to popularise itself.

He said the tour will start in Ruvuma Region and it will also involve Njombe, Iringa, Morogoro, Dodoma, Singida, Tabora, Shinyanya and end in Mara in the first phase.