Thread by @zittokabwe

A Nation at a Crossroads

Tanzania is a land of immense potential—lush farmlands, vast mineral wealth, and natural gas reserves that could power a brighter future. Yet, under the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), which has ruled for 60 years, millions are trapped in poverty, farmers are exploited, and our resources benefit the few

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Operation Maji Maji is about changing that. Over two weeks, I’ve met farmers, families, and youth, hearing their struggles and amplifying their voices as we prepare for the October 2025 elections.

In Tabora on July 2, I stood where liberation heroes once fought, now home to tobacco farmers who generated $500 million in 2024 but live in poverty due to unstable markets and neglect. Tabora is part of a “Poverty Belt” alongside regions like Kigoma and Geita, where 26 million Tanzanians—nearly half our population—survive on less than $0.70 a day. On July 3 in Inyonga, I highlighted how poverty has surged since 2020, despite our Constitution’s mandate to eradicate it. CCM boasts of grand projects but offers no proof of lives improved.

In Namanyere, Nkasi, on July 4, I confronted a darker wound: police brutality. From a man tortured to death in Geita to a trader murdered in Mtwara, our institutions, meant to protect, betray us. Agencies like the Tanzania Forest Service, armed beyond reason, violate our constitutional rights to life and freedom from torture. In Rungwe on July 6, tea farmers shared their despair: exports have crashed from 37,000 tons in 2019 to 15,000 in 2024, earning just $19 million. Farmers get a mere 10% of the global price—$0.13 per kg against $1.40—while Kenya’s farmers receive 60%.

On July 7 in Mbarali, I met communities stripped of their land for conservation, echoing my fight as an MP to reclaim Kapunga village from privatization. In Songea on July 8, I revisited my 2007 resolution that exposed exploitative mining contracts. Despite some gains, CCM’s failure to tap our 2 billion tons of iron ore and 1.2 billion tons of coal squanders billions. That same day in Namtumbo, sesame farmers, who could drive a $2 billion industry, are crushed by taxes exceeding legal limits.

In Namasakata, Tunduru, on July 9, farmers described elephants destroying crops and lives, a crisis fueled by CCM’s expansion of wildlife reserves to half our land. On July 10 in Tunduru Kaskazini, I exposed the theft of $5.6 million in compensation owed for land taken for a power line. In Tandahimba on July 11, cashew farmers, producing a record 528,000 tons in 2024, receive a fraction of their promised earnings, burdened by 34% levies.

In Mtwara on July 13, I mourned a region powering 65% of Tanzania’s electricity with gas yet left off the national grid. Mtwara could be East Africa’s gas hub, but CCM’s inaction stifles it. Finally, on July 14 in Lindi, I decried the stalled $42 billion LNG project, which could generate $5–10 billion annually and thousands of jobs, yet languishes after 11 years.