Topic summary

Chama Cha Mapinduzi

Chama Cha Mapinduzi

The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, lit.'Party of the Revolution') is the dominantrulingparty in Tanzania. It was formed in 1977 from a merger between the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), which were the sole operating parties in mainland Tanzania and the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, respectively. It has formed the majority government in Tanzania ever since, making it the second-longest ruling party in the history of Africa, only after the True Whig Party of Liberia.

TANU and its successor CCM have ruled Tanzania uninterruptedly since independence. The party has been described as authoritarian. Although opposition parties have been legal since 1992, the CCM rules the country as a virtual one-party state. Since the creation of a multi-party system, CCM has won the past seven general elections in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025. Jakaya Kikwete, its presidential candidate in 2005, won by a landslide, receiving more than 80% of the popular vote and John Magufuli as a candidate in 2020 garnered over 84% of the vote. In the 2020 election, the CCM won 256 of the 264 constituencies, continuing to hold an outright majority in the National Assembly.