Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Labour Party (TLP), which started out with a modest presence in the country’s political landscape hopes to make a remarkable showing in the 2025 General Election under the leadership of its presidential candidate, Mr Yustas Mbatina Rwamugira.
In Tanzania’s first multi-party General Election in 1995, TLP failed to secure a single parliamentary seat, fielded no presidential candidate, and did not qualify for government subsidy.
However, by the 2000 election, the party had become a recognised political force nationwide when it fielded a presidential candidate for the first time, won four constituency seats, and secured one Special Seats MP, qualifying for public funding for the first time.
Political observers attribute this turnaround to the split within the National Convention for Construction and Reform (NCCR-Mageuzi), which had been the major opposition party in 1995.
The rift between its chairperson and secretary general fractured the party, leading a large faction, led by then chairperson, Mr Augustine Mrema, to defect to TLP.
While Mr Mrema is widely credited for breathing life into TLP, insiders point out that a number of unsung heroes were instrumental in reshaping the party into a formidable institution.
One such figure is Mr Rwamugira, who was among the early NCCR-Mageuzi members that crossed over with Mr Mrema. He was part of the team that redrafted the TLP constitution, which remains in effect to this day.
Today, Mr Rwamugira serves as TLP’s secretary general, and is also its presidential flag-bearer for the 2025 election.
Since joining TLP in 2000, Mr Rwamugira has remained loyal, serving at various levels of party leadership from district to national level.
With the party’s hopes now pinned on him, he is promising a presidency that prioritises peace, good governance, economic growth, free education and healthcare, as well as infrastructure development.
Early life and education
Mr Rwamugira was born on February 2, 1949 to Mr Leonard Rwamugira Rukuba and Mrs Dorothea Kabanganika Kashara in Kihwela Village, then part of Buganguzi Ward in Bukoba Rural District, Kagera Region. Following administrative changes, his birthplace now falls under Kabilizi Ward, Muleba District.
He is the third child in his family. He started primary school at Kibare 2 in 1964, later proceeding to Rubya Middle School, where he completed Standard Eight in 1971.
He joined Masaka Secondary School in Uganda for his O-levels and graduated in 1975 and returned to Tanzania.
He briefly worked with a coffee co-operative society in Bukoba before training as an adult education teacher at Murutunguru Teachers’ College in Ukerewe, Mwanza Region.
He later worked as a village co-ordinator during the Ujamaa villagisation campaign, where he was responsible for setting up and demarcating villages in Kilimanjaro Region.
Political Journey
Mr Rwamugira’s political journey began early. In 1966, while in Standard Three, he was elected chairperson of TANU Youth and also served as head prefect at his school.
When Tanzania officially embraced multi-party democracy in 1992, he was among the pioneers of NCCR-Mageuzi, contributing to the drafting of its constitution and training new leaders after the party’s full registration.
In 1999, after the protracted leadership dispute between Mr Mrema and then NCCR-Mageuzi Secretary General Mabere Marando, Mr Rwamugira joined TLP with Mr Mrema and other senior figures. He was part of the team that rebuilt the party’s structure and constitution.
He went on to serve as TLP’s Ilala District secretary, Dar es Salaam regional secretary, and deputy secretary general (Mainland). In February 2025, he was elected TLP’s secretary general during the party’s National Congress.
Presidential priorities
As a presidential candidate, Mr Rwamugira says his top priority will be to safeguard the country’s peace and security.
“Tanzania has enjoyed peace since independence, and I intend not only to preserve it but also to strengthen it further,” he said.
He has also pledged to uphold good governance, ensure accountability, fight corruption, and build a resilient economy. He believes Tanzania has enough resources to guarantee every citizen a decent job and income if well managed.
On health, he promises universal and free healthcare, and has vowed to end the practice of withholding bodies in hospitals over unpaid medical bills.
“Does a corpse pay debt?” he asked rhetorically. “Under a TLP government, no family will be denied a body due to unpaid bills. Every ward will have a health centre.”
On education, Mr Rwamugira plans to reform the system to focus less on theory and more on practical skills, with free education from nursery school to university.
He has further promised major investment in infrastructure, including roads, bridges, ferries, and railways, vowing to ensure contractors provide temporary roads during construction to ease traffic congestion.
Mr Rwamugira also said he would revive the Tanzania–Zambia Railway (Tazara), fast-track the Standard Gauge Railway project by ensuring timely contractor payments, and prioritise clearing outstanding pension arrears for retirees.
He has pledged to end predatory “blood-draining” loans targeting women, provide motorcycles for self-employment, establish facilities for people with disabilities, and eliminate street begging.
“Our government will restore strong morals and values, and it will be a government that Tanzanians will be proud of,” he declared.
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