The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), which translates as "party of the revolution", is Tanzania's ruling party and, in effect, Africa's longest-ruling liberation party. It has governed since independence from Britain in 1961—the longest tenure of any party in Africa. Under Julius Nyerere, the country's founding father, CCM forced millions onto collective farms. Faced with a wrecked economy and a population chafing under single-party rule, it changed course after Nyerere stepped down in 1985, overseeing Tanzania's turn to flawed but competitive democracy. As recently as 2024 it was the country's most popular party, according to Afrobarometer, a pollster. Its longevity stems from the role of its precursor parties in the formation of Tanzania, its mix of repression and genuine development gains, and the way it has historically allowed enough internal dissent to renew itself.
In the October 2025 election the CCM rigged the vote by banning opposition parties, jailing their leaders and seemingly fiddling the results. President Samia Suluhu Hassan claimed 98% of the vote. When the largest protests in Tanzania's history erupted in response, the CCM unleashed a post-election crackdown that killed many hundreds, and perhaps thousands—among the bloodiest elections in recent African history. The party that claims to run one of Africa's most peaceful countries has had its Tiananmen Square moment. The EU has frozen aid. America, worried that Christian churches are under threat and that American investors are being unfairly treated, is reviewing bilateral relations.
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