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.
TANU/CCM has dominated the politics of Tanzania since the independence of Tanganyika in 1961. Due to the merger with the ASP, from 1977 it has also been the ruling party in Zanzibar, though there its grip on power has been more contested since the mid 1990s by the Civic United Front (CUF) which was later superseded in dominance on the islands by the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT).
From its formation in 1977 until 1992, it was the only legally permitted party in the country. Every five years, its national chairman was automatically elected to a five-year term as president; he was confirmed in office via a referendum. At the same time, voters were presented with two CCM candidates for the National Assembly or Bunge. This changed on 1 July 1992, when amendments to the Constitution and a number of laws permitting and regulating the formation and operations of more than one political party were enacted by the National Assembly.
The CCM's Zanzibar branch (the former ASP) has historically been significantly more authoritarian than its mainland counterpart, a situation that has remained the case even after opposition parties were legalized in 1992.
Ideology
Originally a champion of African socialism, upholder of the system of collectivized agriculture known as Ujamaa and firmly oriented to the left, today the CCM espouses a more mixed economic approach. CCM hopes to continue to modernize in order to ensure:
Increased productivity which would boost the country's revenue
Increased employment and improved management
Acquisition of new and modern technology
Increased and expanded local and international markets for our products, and;
Improved and strengthened private sector serving as the engine of the national economy while the government sharpens its focus on provision of social services, infrastructure, security and governance of the state.
Similarly, the CCM's major foreign policy focus is economic diplomacy within the international system, and peaceful coexistence with neighbors.
Under John Magufuli, who served as President of Tanzania from 2015 to his 2021 death, the party moved in a left-conservative direction, prioritizing conservative values, including prominent anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. His successor, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has maintained some social conservative viewpoints as well.
Electoral performance and support base
The CCM has a leading role in society, and had held power even after opposition parties were legalized. Empirical analysis has shown that a sense of nostalgia for a party which brought independence, and which has maintained relative peace is a major cause of the CCM's support base; age had no significant determinant on loyalty to the CCM. The party has strong support from subsistence farmers.
The party has won all presidential elections at both the national level and in Zanzibar at the autonomous level under the multi-party system: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025. Its candidate have only dropped below 60 percent once, in 2015. It also dominates the legislature, maintaining a supermajority even in the multiparty era.
In the elections for Zanzibar's presidency and House of Representatives, held on 30 October 2005, incumbent president and CCM candidate Amani Abeid Karume won with 53% of the vote, while the party won 30 seats out of 50.
On 31 October 2010, Jakaya Kikwete was reelected president with 61% of the vote, while CCM obtained 186 out of the 239 directly elected seats.
CCM was admitted into the Socialist International as a full member at the SI's spring congress on 4–5 February 2013.
On 30 October 2015 John Magufuli of CCM won the election with 58% of the vote, to date the lowest vote share claimed by the CCM or its predecessors.
In the 2020 Tanzanian general election, incumbent president and CCM nominee for president John Magufuli secured reelection with over 84% of the vote, making it the party's largest victory ever since the multi-party system was introduced in 1992. However, the election was held in the midst of significant democratic backsliding and repression, as Magufuli's presidency was characterized by unprecedented attacks on the opposition, civil society and press.
Leadership
Current leaders
Samia Suluhu Hassan is the current Chairperson of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi following the death of John Pombe Magufuli, the former Chairman and President of United Republic of Tanzania.
The party has a strong political base in rural Tanzania.CCM Headquarters in the capital, Dodoma.A mural of the party's candidates in the southern Tanzanian town of Lindi.
123Walker, Nigel; Robinson, Tim (17 November 2020). "Tanzania: 2020 presidential election"(PDF). UK: House of Commons Library. Retrieved 12 May 2025. Historically a left-wing champion of African socialism, the party has since moved to a more centre-left position.
↑O'Gorman, Melanie (2012). "Why the CCM won't lose: The roots of single-party dominance in Tanzania". Journal of Contemporary African Studies. 30 (2): 313–333. doi:10.1080/02589001.2012.669566. S2CID17134713.
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