PREVIEW
Samia Suluhu Hassan's swift purge of her deputy shows her opposition to any talk of constitutional change
The downfall of Vice-President Emmanuel John Nchimbi is complete. Nchimbi will leave office on 4 September and has been kicked out of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi two years after he was made the party’s Secretary General.
On 28 August, CCM's National Executive Committee said that Nchimbi’s defenestration was ‘due to conduct that violated our regulations regarding discipline and ethics’. He had announced his resignation on 26 August (AC Vol 67 No 17, Opposition leader Lissu turns the tables on President Hassan). In his place, the NEC has selected Deogratius Ndejembi, Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro told reporters. To her many foes, Nchimbi’s dismissal and expulsion was another show of strength by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
In July, Nchimbi called for reform to deliver ‘a constitution that leads us toward development, not just material and economic development, but the development of dignity and the human worth of every person living in Tanzania.’ His removal underlines the view that Hassan won’t make any concessions on political rights.
It is a humiliation for Nchimbi, who was brought in as President Hassan’s Vice-President with a history as a CCM insider, dating back to a stint as Home Affairs Minister in President Jakaya Kikwete’s government. Hassan brought Nchimbi back into senior politics in January 2024 – after he spent the John Magufuli presidency in ambassadorial roles – as Secretary-General of CCM (AC Vol 66 No 23, The power behind Samia’s throne & Vol 55 No 4, Trophy-hunters after Kikwete).
Ndejembi’s rise is also rapid. The 43-year-old had some short ministerials stints since Magufuli’s presidency. After two years of posts in the president’s and prime minister’s office, he joined Hassan’s cabinet as Housing Minister in January 2025, before being appointed as Energy Minister after October’s disputed presidential election.
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