Edward Lowassa
Who was Edward Lowassa?
Former Prime Minister of Tanzania (2005-2008) who later became a prominent opposition politician and presidential candidate in 2015.
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Edward Lowassa (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Edward Ngoyai Lowassa was born on August 26, 1953, in Arusha, Tanzania. He went to the University of Dar es Salaam and later the University of Bath in the UK, building the educational background for a long career in government and public service. He rose through the ranks of Tanzania's ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), becoming a well-known political figure in the country over several decades.
Lowassa served as Prime Minister of Tanzania from 2005 to 2008 under President Jakaya Kikwete. His time in that role ended when he got caught up in a fraud scandal with an American energy company, Richmond Development LLC, which had been given a controversial contract to deal with Tanzania's power crisis. A parliamentary inquiry found that Lowassa had played a major role in facilitating the contract, and he became the first Prime Minister in Tanzanian history to resign under such circumstances. The constitution required that the entire cabinet be dissolved upon a prime minister's resignation, leading President Kikwete to form a new government under Mizengo Pinda.
Even after his resignation, Lowassa stayed influential within CCM and was still seen as a potential presidential candidate. As the 2015 presidential election approached, he was considered a frontrunner for the CCM nomination. However, the party decided not to select him, prompting Lowassa to make the unusual move of joining the opposition. He became the presidential candidate for the Coalition for the People's Constitution, known by its Swahili acronym UKAWA, which united several opposition parties behind him.
The 2015 presidential race was one of the most competitive in Tanzania's history since gaining independence. Lowassa ran against CCM candidate John Pombe Magufuli and gained significant support, especially from voters unhappy with the ruling party. However, Magufuli won the election, and Lowassa accepted the result, though the opposition raised concerns about the election's fairness. His decision to challenge the ruling party from the opposition was a notable moment in Tanzanian politics, showing that a senior CCM figure could seek national power through opposition avenues.
Edward Lowassa died on February 10, 2024, at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Tanzania. His death marked the end of a career that had moved across the full range of multiparty politics in Tanzania, from his rise within a single-party system to his role as a leading opposition figure in a competitive democracy.
Before Fame
Edward Lowassa was born in Arusha in 1953, ten years before Tanzania gained independence. He grew up during the time of Julius Nyerere's ujamaa socialism and single-party rule under CCM. Lowassa first attended the University of Dar es Salaam, a key place for East African intellectual and political activity, and then went on to study at the University of Bath in the UK.
He started his political career within the CCM framework when it was the only legal political party in Tanzania. Over the years, he held various roles in government and the party, forming networks and alliances that eventually helped him become Prime Minister. By the time Tanzania adopted multiparty politics in the 1990s, Lowassa was already a well-known figure within the ruling party.
Key Achievements
- Served as Prime Minister of Tanzania from 2005 to 2008 under President Jakaya Kikwete
- Became the opposition's unified presidential candidate in the 2015 election after defecting from CCM, representing the broadest opposition coalition in Tanzania's multiparty history
- Held multiple senior ministerial positions across decades of Tanzanian government, contributing to policy development in energy and infrastructure sectors
- Demonstrated that a sitting or former senior CCM figure could mount a credible national challenge through opposition channels, reshaping the dynamics of Tanzanian electoral competition
Did You Know?
- 01.Lowassa was the first Prime Minister in Tanzanian history to be forced out of office by a parliamentary finding related to a fraud scandal.
- 02.His defection from CCM to the opposition in 2015 was considered one of the most dramatic political switches in Tanzania's multiparty era, given that he had spent his entire career within the ruling party.
- 03.The Richmond scandal that ended his premiership involved a contract with a company that investigators found lacked the capacity to deliver the electricity generation services it had been paid to provide.
- 04.He died at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute, named after the very president under whom he had served as Prime Minister.
- 05.His 2015 presidential run united four opposition parties behind a single candidate for the first time in a coordinated front against CCM, a coalition strategy that had not been attempted on that scale in previous Tanzanian elections.