20110714
Reuters
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A senior lawmaker from Tanzania's ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi, or Party of the Revolution, who was once in President Jakaya Kikwete's inner circle, has quit his seat amid accusations of graft.



Kikwete, who has pledged to root out corruption, faces infighting in the CCM, which is struggling with large-scale corruption allegations within its own ranks.

Denying the allegations, Rostam Aziz announced to leaders in his Igunga constituency in the Tabora region on Wednesday that he would step down both as member of parliament and as a member of CCM's national executive committee (NEC).

There have been growing calls for Aziz and his two close confidants -- former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and former minister Andrew Chenge -- to resign from the party following widespread corruption allegations against the politicians.

"I have decided to relinquish all leadership positions in the party ... my decision is based on a clear conscience to end these gutter politics and spend my time concentrating on my business," Aziz said in his resignation speech seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Foreign donors and opposition leaders have fiercely criticised the slow pace of Kikwete's fight against corruption. While he has pledged to do more to combat it, some observers say Kikwete's hands are tied by high-ranking, influential party members.

CCM's Uhuru newspaper, said this was the start of a serious clean-up and analysts said it was positive development for party that has ruled the country nearly five decades.

Samuel Mushi, a political science professor at the University of Dar es Salaam, said Aziz's resignation was a positive development for CCM.

"The positions of other politicians in CCM and government facing corruption allegations have become untenable and they too will have to follow suit and resign," Mushi told state television on Thursday.

Aziz is a well-connected operator with vast business interests, including a 35 percent stake through his company Mirambo Holdings in Vodacom Tanzania, the biggest mobile phone company in the country and a unit of the South African telecoms giant.

He has been an MP for more than 15 years and has previously held senior positions in CCM, including former national treasurer and member of the central committee, the highest authority within the ruling party.

Aziz headed campaign fundraising for Kikwete in the 2005 general election, but was left out of the successful 2010 re-election bid against the backdrop of growing graft accusations against him.

Aziz was accused in a 2008 parliament report along with Lowassa of influencing the awarding of a power generation tender to a company that was later unable to deliver on the contract signed in 2007 after a power crisis in 2006.

He has denied the allegations but has often been criticised by CCM members, opposition leaders and the local media over graft claims.

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