Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), elected its national leaders on Wednesday night and Freeman Mbowe was re-elected as chairman, said a statement issued on Thursday.
The statement said Mbowe who has led the party since 2004 got 886 votes which was equivalent to 93.5 per cent while his opponent Cecil Mwambe scooped 59 votes, which was equivalent to 6.2 per cent of the votes cast during the party’s congress held in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
The statement said Chadema’s legal director Tundu Lissu was elected the new vice-chairman for Tanzania mainland after his rival Sophia Mwakagenda had decided to pull out.
Addressing the party congress on Wednesday ahead of the election for national leaders, Mbowe said plans were afoot to establish an online platform on which members would make contributions to fund the party’s day-to-day operations.
He said currently the party operated by using Tsh280 million (about $121,000) annually from party membership fees and Tsh3 billion ($1 million) through grants annually.
Mbowe said through the new digitalised fee collection system, the party will be able to collect Tsh15 billion ($1 million) annually, adding that this amount will enable the opposition party to carry out its operations smoothly.
