Waitara defends his decision to ditch Chadema for the ruling CCM

Dar es Salaam. Former Ukonga Member of Parliament Mwita Waitara today August 15, 2018 unequivocally defended the ongoing wave of party hopping and the subsequent by-elections, saying democracy is always expensive and dismissing the suggestion by many that the repeat polls are just unnecessary losses of taxpayers’ money.

Mr Waitara defected to Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from Chadema where among other positions he was a member of parliament for Ukonga Constituency.

He resigned all his positions the opposition party and joined CCM, which subsequently appointed him to vie for Ukonga’s upcoming by-election.

Approximately up to 100 opposition leaders, including councilors and members of parliament, have defected to CCM with Chadema being the hardest hit as almost 50 of its former leaders have since decamped to the ruling party. Other parties affected by the ‘great trek’ are ACT-Wazalendo and the Civic United Front (Cuf).

All those defecting come back to contest for the same positions they previously abandoned through the CCM ticket, a situation that has been ferociously criticised and condemned by many people from all spectrums of the country. They see it as indifference to the taxes paid by the people, arguing the funds could be directed to development projects to improve people’s lives.

“I’m not aware that at present there is any development projects which have stopped because monies go to fund by-elections,” the Mara-born politician told The Citizen today during his visit to Mwananchi Communications Limited offices.

“I’m not even sure that the taxes that people pay go to fund by-elections,” he added.

Mr Waitara, however, failed to say where he thought the money funding by-elections came from if not from taxes collected by the government.

In justifying his argument, Mr Waitara said that when he made the decision to resign his positions in Chadema he never thought about the by-elections but was aware of what motivated him to join CCM.

“Democracy is a costly process,” he stressed, adding: “The government is supposed to set aside a budget for funding democracy.”