More than one million people have joined the CCM Party since the multi-party democracy was adopted last year, announced Party Secretary General Horace Kolimba addressing a huge rally in Mtwara – Daily News.
The ‘Business Times’ published an 8-page supplement on October 30 outlining the personalities and policies of fourteen of the 20 parties provisionally registered. Three of the parties – UMD, CHADEMA and the NCCR were expected to move on to full registration in the near future.
Mr Edwin Mtei of CHADEMA emphasised encouragement of large and small scale farmers through sustained provision of resources, inputs and training. He also said that if his party were elected to power they would abolish the move of government headquarters to Dodoma. He said the move was too costly far the nation.
Chief Fundikira’s UMD party favours the restoration of the nine pre-independence provinces each with an elected governor and parliament, something which his critics say would destroy the unity of the nation.
Party politics returned to Zanzibar with a bang according to “Africa Events” when the Civic United Front (CUF) held it’s first rally, “nothing like at had been seen in the isles since the late 1950’s, with an assembly of some 12,000 apparently committed supporters”. The CUF’s vice-chairman is former Zanzibar Chief Minister Seif Shariff Hamad who is still being charged with a criminal offence involving confidential security documents.
The Rev, Christopher Mtikila, described as ‘the firebrand leader of the Democratic Party’ is serving a nine month jail sentence after being charged with holding an illegal political rally.
The new parties will be able to take part in local government elections on October 31, 1993. The next Presidential election is due in 1995.