Career

Chama cha Ukombozi wa Umma

The Chama cha Ukombozi wa Umma (CHAUMMA, literally ‘People’s Liberation Party’) is a political party in Tanzania. Hashim Spunda Rungwe, who has served as CHAUMMA’s chairman since 2014, was the first politician in the party’s history to stand for the presidency when he contested the 2015 Tanzanian general election. Many CHAUMMA members were previously aligned with NCCR-Mageuzi, including Rungwe, who unsuccessfully contested the presidency as the NCCR-Mageuzi candidate in the 2010 Tanzanian general election.

Rungwe has stated that CHAUMMA’s participation in elections depends on whether the dominant political party, CCM (Chama Cha Mapinduzi), provides a level playing field for opposition parties. The party’s principal objectives are to increase public happiness, reduce unemployment and revitalise the economy.

Hashim Rungwe was selected as CHAUMMA’s first-ever presidential candidate for the 2015 general election, ahead of the party’s General Secretary, Ally Omary Juma, and another party member. Among the principal policies Rungwe sought to advance were greater government accountability, national unity and improved support for people living in poverty.

If elected, he pledged to revive Mwanza’s struggling economy by returning failing private companies to public ownership. He believed that the government was responsible for ensuring the quality of infrastructure and the economic prosperity of its citizens, and that revitalising the cotton-growing industry would help reduce poverty and unemployment.

In the longer term, CHAUMMA’s plan was to provide free education for all Tanzanians, from nursery school through to university, with the country’s eventual wealth of natural resources making such a policy financially possible.