Tanzania’s Vice President Emmanuel John Nchimbi has resigned less than a year after taking office, stepping down amid a widening rift with President Samia Suluhu Hassan that has also triggered a crackdown on the country’s media.
Nchimbi announced his departure on Tuesday through his dormant Instagram account, saying he would leave office on 4 September and retire from both politics and public service. President Hassan accepted the resignation, according to an official government statement. No formal reason was provided, but the circumstances surrounding Nchimbi’s exit point to deepening tensions within the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party.
“On 27 August 2025, I promised Her Excellency President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan that I would assist her and our country to the best of my ability and with loyalty,” Nchimbi wrote in his resignation letter. “I also assured her that on any day she felt she needed a different Vice President, I would step aside from this position. I am now fully convinced, without doubt, that Her Excellency the President desires change.”
A Speech That Changed Everything
The breaking point appears to have been a public address Nchimbi delivered on 24 July at an event organised by a rights group, in which he called on Tanzanians to “fight for the new constitution.” The remarks drew sharp criticism from within CCM and were widely interpreted as a challenge to the party establishment, which has long resisted calls for significant constitutional reform.
In late July, Nchimbi was reportedly summoned before the party’s ethics committee during a National Executive Committee meeting in Zanzibar. The ruling party’s spokesperson, Kenan Kihongosi, told Clouds TV on 19 August that if the Vice President had been summoned, it would have been treated as a routine matter involving any party member, not someone holding high office. But the decision to refer a sitting Vice President to the ethics committee was itself extraordinary and signalled that his position within the party had become untenable.
The resignation also came just one day before Parliament resumed its sessions, and political analyst William Maduhu noted that the timing may have been deliberate. “If the party that sponsored him for that position expels him from membership through its lawful party organs, automatically the position of Vice President becomes vacant,” Maduhu explained. “Nchimbi may have chosen to resign on his own terms rather than face expulsion.”
Media Crackdown Follows Political Crisis
The political upheaval has coincided with a tightening of Tanzania’s media environment. Authorities suspended the weekly newspaper MwanaHALISI for six weeks, citing failures to meet professional standards of verification, accuracy and balance. The paper had reported allegations of disagreement between Nchimbi and Hassan, and suggested that the Vice President had been resisting pressure to resign before the announcement came.
The suspension drew criticism from press freedom advocates, who noted that the newspaper’s reporting on internal political tensions was consistent with standard journalistic practice. The Chanzo, an independent Tanzanian outlet, subsequently published detailed reporting on the circumstances of the resignation, including the ethics committee summons and the broader pattern of political pressure on Nchimbi.
Those reports indicated that attacks on the Vice President’s position had intensified in recent months, driven by his perceived ambitions for the 2030 presidential race and his public support for constitutional reform that some within CCM viewed as politically destabilising. CCM has ruled Tanzania continuously since independence in 1961, making internal power dynamics within the party the de facto locus of national political competition.
Constitutional Process Ahead
Under Tanzania’s constitution, the President must appoint a replacement within 14 days of the Vice Presidency becoming vacant, and the appointment must then be confirmed by the National Assembly through a majority vote. President Hassan is expected to oversee the selection process, and the choice of successor will signal the political direction her administration intends to take.
Nchimbi served as CCM Secretary-General before being appointed Vice President in November 2025 following Hassan’s re-election. His departure marks an unusual and rapid exit from the second-highest office in one of East Africa’s most influential countries.
The resignation carries significance beyond Tanzania’s borders. As one of the region’s largest economies and a key player in the East African Community, changes at the top of Tanzania’s government are closely watched across the continent. The manner in which the transition is handled will test the resilience of the country’s institutions during a period of political uncertainty, and may set a precedent for how ruling-party disputes are resolved in one of Africa’s longest-standing one-party dominant systems.
discussion