Dar es Salaam. The embattled
CUF chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba on Tuesday defended the National
Electoral Commission’s endorsement of the new Special Seats legislators,
saying the procedures and CUF constitution were followed during their
nomination.
Last month NEC approved the nomination of
eight CUF Special Seats positions after the previous MPs had their party
membership scrapped on allegations of indiscipline and sabotage. The
nomination had been done by a CUF faction led by Prof Lipumba.
NEC,
then, came under attack from the CUF faction led by Mr Seif Sharrif Hamada and other stakeholders for endorsing what they considered an illegal process due to a leadership and constitutional dispute that is still raging within CUF and that has seen the split of the party into two factions.
then, came under attack from the CUF faction led by Mr Seif Sharrif Hamada and other stakeholders for endorsing what they considered an illegal process due to a leadership and constitutional dispute that is still raging within CUF and that has seen the split of the party into two factions.
Addressing a press conference at CUF
Buguruni offices on Tuesday, Prof Lipumba said the nomination of the MPs
was lawful and constitutional because the names of endorsed MPS were in
the original list of eligible members that had been submitted by
party's secretary general Mr Hamad in September 2015.
“What
we did was just to go back to Mr Hamad’s roster and pick some MPs. We
did not come up with any new names!” Mr Hamad retorted.
The
Special Seats MPs nominated by the Lipumba faction last month and
approved by NEC were Rukia Ahmed Kassim, Shamsia Aziz Mtamba, Kiza
Hussein Mayeye, Zainab Mndolwa Amir, Hindu Hamis Mwenda, Sonia Jumaa
Magogo, Alfredina Apolinary Kahigi and Nuru Awadh Bafadhili.
The
MPs who were dismissed by Lipumba faction from CUF were Savelina
Silvanus Mwijage, Saumu Heri Sakala, Salma Mohamed Mohamed, Riziki
Shahari Mngwali, Raisa Abdallah Mussa, Miza Bakari Haji, Khadija
Al-Qassmy and Halima Mohamed. They all ultimately lost their status as
MPs.
The Special Seats MPs saga is the latest of
upheavals in the CUF dispute that has split the party into two sides;
one led by Chairman Prof Lipumba and the other aligned to secretary
general, Mr Hamad. The Special Seat MPs who were dismissed from the
party challenged the decision in court.
