Keypoints:
- CCM expels Nchimbi over disciplinary breaches
- Ndejembi unanimously backed as successor
- Expulsion renews scrutiny of media ban
TANZANIA’S ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi has expelled outgoing Vice-President Emmanuel Nchimbi from the party, just a day after his shock resignation announcement, and unanimously backed Energy Minister Deogratius Ndejembi as the man it wants to replace him.
The dramatic sequence transforms what initially appeared to be a surprise retirement into evidence of a much deeper rupture inside President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s ruling party. It also renews scrutiny of the earlier suspension of a Tanzanian newspaper that reported allegations of pressure on Nchimbi to resign.
CCM expels Nchimbi
CCM Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro announced the expulsion after meetings of the party’s Central Committee and National Executive Committee in Dar es Salaam on August 26.
Migiro said the party had examined disciplinary and ethical matters involving Nchimbi and concluded that CCM’s constitution and rules had been breached.
The National Executive Committee consequently voted unanimously to remove him from the ruling party.
‘From this moment, Nchimbi has been expelled from membership and is no longer a member of Chama Cha Mapinduzi,’ Migiro said in remarks broadcast by Jambo TV.
CCM did not publicly detail the specific conduct that led to the disciplinary finding.
Nchimbi had announced on August 25 that he intended to retire from politics and public service and resign as vice-president with effect from September 4. President Hassan subsequently accepted his resignation.
The distinction is significant. CCM expelled Nchimbi from the party immediately, while his announced departure from the constitutional office of vice-president was scheduled to take effect later.
Newspaper controversy returns
The expulsion gives fresh significance to Africa Briefing’s report on Nchimbi’s resignation on Wednesday.
His resignation announcement came days after authorities suspended MwanaHALISI for six months over a report headlined ‘Nchimbi agoma kujiuzulu’ — ‘Nchimbi refuses to resign’.
The newspaper had alleged that Nchimbi was resisting pressure to leave office. Tanzanian regulators said the report failed to meet requirements on accuracy, balance and verification.
As Africa Briefing reported when the suspension was imposed, the action raised questions about press freedom and the handling of politically sensitive reporting.
Nchimbi’s resignation and subsequent expulsion do not establish that every allegation published by MwanaHALISI was correct.
But CCM’s confirmation that it had considered serious disciplinary and ethical issues involving Nchimbi establishes that a significant internal dispute surrounded one of Tanzania’s most senior political figures, adding another dimension to the circumstances in which the newspaper was suspended.
Ndejembi lined up as successor
CCM moved swiftly to address the succession, unanimously approving Deogratius Ndejembi as its proposed candidate for vice-president.
Migiro said the National Executive Committee had approved Ndejembi at the preliminary stage under the party’s procedures.
His name must still be submitted to Tanzania’s National Assembly. Only after MPs approve the nomination can the constitutional process towards his swearing-in proceed.
Ndejembi has therefore been selected by CCM but has not yet formally become Tanzania’s vice-president.
Ndejembi is MP for Chamwino and serves as Energy Minister.
His ministerial role has put him at the centre of Tanzania’s drive to expand electricity generation, including the 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, one of the country’s largest infrastructure investments.
His proposed elevation would move a serving minister into Tanzania’s second-highest constitutional office at an unusually turbulent moment for the ruling party.
Rift deepens around Hassan
Nchimbi said in his resignation statement that he had become convinced Hassan wanted ‘change’ and was honouring an earlier commitment to step aside if she wanted another deputy.
He said he had promised Hassan in August 2025 that he would assist her and the country faithfully, but would relinquish the position if she concluded that another vice-president was needed.
The subsequent expulsion establishes that his departure coincided with a formal disciplinary confrontation within CCM rather than being simply a routine change of personnel.
It does not, however, establish the precise nature of any disagreement between Nchimbi and Hassan.
The affair instead points to a widening rupture at the top of Tanzania’s ruling establishment, where CCM has dominated national politics for decades.
It also comes against a wider backdrop of concern over political and media freedoms following Tanzania’s contentious 2025 election and earlier restrictions affecting opposition and independent media.
What happens next?
Attention now shifts to Parliament.
Tanzania’s constitutional framework requires a replacement vice-president to receive parliamentary approval before taking office.
Given CCM’s commanding position in the legislature, Ndejembi’s confirmation is unlikely to face a serious numerical obstacle. But the political circumstances surrounding his emergence are likely to attract considerably more attention than an ordinary succession.
The sequence is extraordinary: a newspaper reports an alleged struggle over the vice-president’s position; the newspaper is suspended; Nchimbi announces that he believes the President wants change and says he will resign; CCM then expels him and immediately advances another senior politician as his intended successor.
None of those developments proves every allegation originally made by MwanaHALISI.
They do, however, establish that Nchimbi’s departure unfolded amid a serious internal dispute within Tanzania’s ruling party — a dispute CCM has now publicly acknowledged through his expulsion.
Related stories
