By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan has relieved the Minister of Information, Nape Nnauye of his duty, following a controversial remark in which the cabinet member said he would help a fellow ruling party MP win in the 2025 election.
The video of the comment which he made during a rally on 15 July, has since gone viral on social media, attracting backlash from angry citizens of the east African nation.
He added that “election results are not necessarily those in the [ballot box], rather they depend on the person counting and making announcements”.
In defending himself after the controversial comment, Nnauye said he was only joking when he made the comment.
The video also showed the sacked minister saying: “Because I’m good at election tricks, I will assist to emerge victorious.”
He said there are various methods to ensure a win – “legal, half legal and illegal”.
“All of them could be used provided after the conclusion you seek God’s forgiveness,” Nnauye added.
Many Tanzanians criticised the former minister, arguing that he had violated the principles of electoral democracy and did not respect the decision of voters.
In his apology, Mr Nnauye said he believed in “free and fair elections”.
Mr Nnauye also came under fire during the run up to the 2015 elections, when, using a football analogy, he said the ruling CCM party would win the poll by all means – even if this meant scoring a “handball goal”.
Heritage Times HT reports that Hassan became Tanzania’s first female Vice-President following the 2015 general election, after being elected on the platform of Chama Cha Mapinduzi l with Magufuli.
Suluhu and Magufuli were re-elected to a second term in 2020 but Magufuli died in office.
After she succeeded the late John Magufuli as President of Tanzania in March 2021, Hassan began reversing the authoritarianism of her predecessor.
She restored basic civil rights, unbanning public rallies and loosening media controls, started consulting with opposition parties on necessary reforms, and proposed an inclusive ‘committee of experts’ to guide the long-delayed constitutional review process.
Elections are scheduled to hold in October.
