Emmanuel Nchimbi has announced his resignation as Tanzania's Vice-President, less than 10 months after being sworn in. He said he would retire from public life at the end of next week, making the move the first time a Tanzanian vice-president has stepped down.
In his resignation letter on Instagram, Nchimbi wrote: "I have become convinced, without doubt, that the president wants changes, and I have therefore decided to fulfil my promise". He also said he wanted to respect President Samia Suluhu Hassan's wishes and thanked the president and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party for the trust they had placed in him.
Last month, Nchimbi urged Tanzanians to "fight for a new constitution" and said there was an opportunity to secure one before 2030. He linked that goal to addressing injustice, strengthening human rights, good governance and democracy, and those remarks now sit beside his departure as part of the same political arc. A resignation letter from Kidsgrove has been handled in another case, while other resignation disputes have also surfaced in different settings.
Samia Suluhu Hassan's running mate
Nchimbi was Samia Suluhu Hassan's running mate in last October's disputed presidential election. The pair were sworn in last November after winning 98% of the vote, a result that came after post-poll unrest in which an official enquiry said at least 500 people died.
Opposition parties and human rights groups accused the security forces of unleashing a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters. That backdrop is part of why Nchimbi's departure matters beyond a routine personnel change: it comes out of a government that was installed after a contested vote and violent unrest.
Chama Cha Mapinduzi and the fallout
Sources in his office and the presidency said the move was already understood inside government circles. Weeks before the announcement, reports said Nchimbi had fallen out with Hassan, and the resignation now formalises a split that had already become visible in public language.
Nchimbi's own explanation points in two directions at once. He said the president wants changes, and he said he had promised to leave if Hassan wanted another deputy. That leaves the substance of those changes unexplained, even as the resignation itself makes clear that the deputy presidency has already shifted hands in practice, not just in protocol.
Nchimbi previously served as secretary-general of Chama Cha Mapinduzi, and later held minister of information and home affairs posts before becoming Tanzania's ambassador to Brazil and then Egypt. He said he would continue to be a good citizen of Tanzania, a final personal pledge that closes his formal role but not his public life. Resignation pressure at the Democratic National Committee has taken a different form, and a football resignation in Querétaro shows how quickly leadership changes can remake a public agenda.
For Tanzania, the immediate question is not whether Nchimbi has left — he has — but how President Samia Suluhu Hassan will reorganise the top of government after losing the vice-president who ran with her through the disputed election. His departure before 10 months in office makes the timing as significant as the decision itself.
