Retired ACT-Wazalendo party leader Zitto Kabwe has become the first Tanzanian opposition politician to openly voice presidential aspirations for next year’s general election.

Speaking at an event marking the party’s 10th anniversary in Kigoma on May 5, Zitto said he was ready to make a U-turn on his previously stated intention to first focus on regaining the parliamentary seat he lost in the controversial 2020 election before moving on to a presidential bid at a later time, probably 2030.

He said despite having stepped down from day-to-day party leadership in March this year, he would make himself available to run against incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the ruling CCM party if ACT-Wazalendo required him to do so.

“I have prepared myself psychologically, mentally and cognitively to be President of the United Republic of Tanzania at any time if that is in the immediate interests of the party,” he told a cheering crowd of ACT-Wazalendo supporters.

Read: ACT-Wazalendo prepares for next elections without Zitto at the helm

In 2025, President Samia will be seeking the electorate’s mandate for the first time after being elevated from vice-president to succeed John Magufuli by constitutional decree in 2021.

She is eligible for one full five-year term and her candidacy is likely to be endorsed by the ruling CCM which has never broken its age-old tradition of always approving incumbent presidents for reelection.

The 48-year-old Zitto, who is well-established as one of Tanzania’s most prominent opposition stalwarts, dismissed speculation earlier this year that he would mount a presidential challenge while Samia was in office, apparently out of awareness that his chances of toppling her before her second term ended in 2030 were very low.

He said his main interest for the time being was to return to parliament as the Kigoma constituency representative and reignite an effective opposition presence in the House that went missing after CCM claimed almost all the legislative seats in a 2020 election that was clouded by allegations of widespread irregularities.

But he appeared to change his mind at the bequest of ACT-Wazalendo’s vice-chairperson for Zanzibar, Ismail Jussa, during the party anniversary function, saying there were other capable party members who could run for and win the Kigoma constituency legislative seat in his stead.

Read: Tanzania opposition lacking intra-party democracy

Although ACT-Wazalendo is widely regarded as Tanzania’s second biggest opposition party after Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), its stronghold has always been Zanzibar where it is expected to mount another serious challenge to Hussein Mwinyi's rule over the archipelago next year.

The party's candidate of choice in this endeavour is likely to be recently-elected chairman Othman Masoud, who continues to hold the position of vice-president in an increasingly shaky coalition government arrangement with CCM.

Meanwhile, Chadema has remained focused on leading the opposition’s fight for real constitutional and electoral system reforms that will level the political playing field before the 2025 election, and has yet to make its position clear on who will contest the presidency against Samia on its ticket.

The party is currently engaged in internal elections to install fresh zonal leaderships across the country as part of its preparations for a determined bid to regain a strong grassroots presence nationwide in the local government elections slated for October this year.

This will be followed by top leadership elections to be held later this year, where longtime party chairman Freeman Mbowe is already being heavily tipped to extend his 20-year tenure in the seat.

However, speculation of possible fissures developing in Chadema’s top hierarchy were triggered last week when the party’s vice chairman Tundu Lissu publicly questioned the source of “dirty money” being floated around in the zonal positioning sweepstakes.

Mr Lissu appeared to stir a hornet’s net within the party when he intimated about the scent of corruption. Only time will prove the veracity of this claim.

He warned party members at a public rally in Iringa on May 2 to be cautious of possible bribery through illicit funds in the race to win votes in the zonal elections.

Read: Why Tanzania parties wary of proposed poll laws

“Where is this money coming from and why was it not available when our party needed it for mass mobilization and demonstration purposes?” he queried.

“Does the way it is now being used benefit the party in any way?”

His comments placed Chadema under new public scrutiny with the civic elections just five months away, and other senior party officials have since declined further comment until the next central committee meeting is held on an as yet unspecified date.

CCM was quick to distance itself from the matter, its propaganda and publicity secretary Amos Makalla denying any ruling party involvement in trying to disrupt the opposition party through underhand divide-and-rule means as a ploy to gain the upper hand in the run-up to the civic polls.

In typical political predator fashion, Makalla instead called for interventions by the Registrar of Political Parties and law enforcement authorities to treat Lissu’s claims as a straightforward corruption case against the entire Chadema set-up.

Both Mbowe and Lissu have in the past lost out to CCM candidates in presidential campaigns on Chadema tickets, Mbowe against Jakaya Kikwete in 2005 and Lissu against John Magufuli in 2020.

However, the two are still regarded as currently the party’s only viable options to lead a 2025 bid, which is why the latest signs of dysfunction within the party have drawn so much attention among close followers of Tanzanian politics.