John Pombe Magufuli, the President of Tanzania has cleared the claims that he was allegedly planning on extending the country’s presidential terms.
President Magufuli was elected the President of Tanzania in October 2015 for his first term in office, and according to the reports, he has not indicated neither shown signs of wanting to run for presidency in the coming general elections of 2020.
However, if he runs and wins, then he will be ineligible to run again for presidency in 2025.
In the recent reports, it was stated that some of the members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party have been calling on the 58 year old President to extend the presidential terms from the constitutionally mandated five years to seven years.
Mr. Magufuli denied the ongoing claims through a statement issued by his CCM party.
‘President Magufuli has appealed to Tanzanians to ignore such calls because the issue of presidential term extension has never been discussed by top organs of the ruling party,’ CCM said in a statement.
Mr. Magufuli does not plan to make the change “at any time during his presidency” – the statement added clarifying.
Nicknamed “the Bulldozer” for his strict leadership style, President John Pombe Magufuli has won praise for his tough anti-corruption fight.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu
