Dar es Salaam.
Former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa has revealed that President John
Pombe Magufuli tried to persuade him to rejoin the ruling political
party CCM when the two met in a tête-à-tête at State House in Dar es
Salaam recently.
A press statement
released on Monday this week (January 15, 2018) – and which is signed by
Mr Lowassa – says a member of the central committee (CC) of the main
political opposition Party for Democracy and Development (Chadema)
downplayed President Magufuli’s call upon Mr Lowassa to rejoin CCM.
“I
didn’t agree. I told him that my decision to shift to Chadema from CCM
was real and not a probability,” reads the statement in part.
According
to Mr Lowassa, he went to the State House on January 9 after receiving
an invitation to do so from the Head of State. He did so with an
intention to eventually brief members of the Chadema Central Committee
what transpired at the meeting with the president – who also doubles as
the national chairman of the party in power, CCM.
Mr
Lowassa says in his statement that he used the opportunity to discuss
with President Magufuli various issues of national importance, including
apparent breach of some provisions of the Union Constitution, and
suppression of multiparty democracy.
The
former prime minister also said that he discussed with the president
the ongoing violation of human rights and freedoms, including summary or
peremptory dismissal of public employees, invasion of people’s privacy,
intimidation and physical attacks of opposition political leaders, as
well as the persisting social and economic hardships which ordinary
Tanzanians continue to suffer from.
“It
is my hope that the president will take into consideration all these
issues, and work on them for the benefit of the county,” the statement
says.
Mr Lowassa also said that he
wishes to inform members of the public in general, and Tanzanians who
hanker for transformative change in particular, that he is much stronger
than he has ever been – and that he will not be derailed or sidetracked
in his efforts to serve all Tanzanians.
“I
continue with my belief in the Chadema as a political institution, and
stand for transformative changes through Chadema,” reads his press
statement.
Last week, Mr Lowassa –
who was the Chadema presidential election flagbearer in year-2015 – met
with President Magufuli at State House where he was quoted as declaring
support for the Head of State in national development.
If
nothing else, this raised hackles among some observers, and sparked
public debate – with some people criticizing the decision to meet with
the president virtually on the sly, saying that he had sidelined the
political opposition at a time when it is struggling to create political
space vis-à-vis the 5th-phase government of President Magufuli.
On the other hand, some analysts praised the move, saying the Magufuli/Lowassa meeting demonstrates political maturity.