The opposition party, a member of the Coalition of People’s Constitution (Ukawa) alongside Civic United Front (CUF), NCCR-Mageuzi and National League for Democracy, said in a signed press statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday that it had no time “to respond to any of the allegations raised by Dr Slaa”.
“We are concentrating on General Election campaigns. We have dedicated all our efforts and energy to strategies of winning the elections,” Chadema information officer Tumaini Makene said in the statement.
He said Chadema faithful and other Ukawa followers were busy strategising on how to win landslide victory on October 25.
Chadema’s presidential candidate is former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and his running mate is Juma Duni Haji, a former Zanzibar deputy minister and CUF official.Ukawa also reacted to remarks Dr Slaa made at Tuesday’s news conference in Dar es Salaam, saying the former Chadema SG took full part in the process that led to Lowassa’s crossing over from the ruling CCM to Chadema.
On Tuesday, Dr Slaa declared that he would no longer take part in party politics. He made the declaration at a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that lasted over two hours, spending the time seeking to show that Chadema presidential candidate former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa is corrupt and therefore unreliable as a leader.
“I have decided to quit party politics after differing with my fellow Chadema officials over their decision to allow Lowassa into the party after some of my views were ignored,” said Dr Slaa.
He admitted having participated in welcoming Lowassa to the party, adding however that (as secretary general) he gave conditions that were not fulfilled, “and instead the party leadership took Lowassa on board”.
The conditions included ensuring that Lowassa publicly announced why he quit CCM and issuing a public statement on all corruption allegations levelled against him – among them the Richmond emergency power generation controversy.
Responding to the accusations before journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Ukawa co-chairman and NCCR-Mageuzi national Chairman James Mbatia said Dr Slaa was the mastermind behind Lowassa’s defection to Chadema.
He said the top Ukawa leaders who participated in the meetings leading to Lowassa’s defection included former CUF national chairman Prof Ibrahim Lipumba (who has since resigned), Chadema national Chairman Freeman Mbowe, Edward Lowassa and himself (Mbatia).
“Dr Slaa is the one who initiated the talks and persuaded Lowassa to join Chadema after his (Lowassa) name was axed from the list of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential aspirants,” said Mbatia, refuting suggestions by Dr Slaa that Lowassa was required to cross over only if he carried along a certain number of CCM big shots including MPs and regional and district chairpersons.
“Chadema did not direct Lowassa to think of joining Chadema only if he was brought along 20 CCM regional chairpersons, 50 CCM Members of Parliament and 88 CCM district chairpersons, as claimed by Dr Slaa,” said Mbatia.
Dr Slaa said on Tuesday that he once asked the Chadema central committee to hand over the names of the said MPs before CCM’s nominations took place but the condition was not met.
Responding to the claim, Mbatia said: “We didn’t have any written document on the number of CCM followers contemplating joining Ukawa… But we are happy because we have already received many of them as a result of Lowassa’s crossing over to Chadema.”
Mbatia also noted that it was seven years since Lowassa resigned as PM following the Richmond emergency power generation scandal, like Lowassa himself wondering why no legal action had been taken on the matter until now.
According to the Ukawa co-chairman, Lowassa was given the opportunity to defend himself on the Richmond scandal during the Chadema central committee meeting “which Dr Slaa attended”.
Turning to Dr Slaa’s “baseless claims” that religious leaders received between 60m/- to 300m/- from Lowassa, Mbatia said the plan there was to drive a wedge between Chadema faithful and clerics.
Mbatia wondered why Dr Slaa did not alert police if indeed there was an attempt to offer him a 500 million/- bribe “so that he could help defuse the Richmond saga in 2008”.
“This is a pure case of playing malicious tricks and mudslinging other people in positions of leadership. He wants to make people believe him. But Ukawa is strong and determined to remove CCM from power come the coming elections,” he noted.
In later remarks yesterday, Lowassa said figuratively that Chadema was much like a train that has started its scheduled trip from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma, “and in between there are those who embark and there are those who disembark”.
“So, what has happened to Dr Wilbroad Slaa is perfectly normal, as he is sure to re-join us in future,” he said at an election campaign rally at Sumbawanga.
Mbowe meanwhile said, in a veiled reference to Dr Slaa’s remarks on Tuesday: “Chadema belongs to no particular individual, and no one is above the party. What the party agreed upon must be respected.”
He implored law-enforcement organs to do justice and ensure justice is seen to be done in the October General Election.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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