Anxiety as Tanzanian President collapses in public forum

By Henry Neondo
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete collapsed Saturday at a public rally in the commercial city of Dar es Salaam that was called to witness the launch of his reelection bid for a second term in an election scheduled for October 31.

The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential candidate had taken to the podium and started to outline the achievements of his administration in his first term when the incident occured.

He had spoken for about 15 minutes, when he suddenly stopped and appeared to slump down, throwing his security detail into action. The bodyguards caught him before he hit the ground, and whisked him away.  

This was his first major rally following clearance of candidates by the National Electoral Commission earlier on Thursday.

Top CCM officials at the podium, including the Vice-President, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein, Mr Kikwete’s running mate, Dr Ghalib Bilal, former Presidents Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamin Mkapa, appeared stunned. First Lady Salma Kikwete, could only look on apprehensively.

The crowd became anxious and surged forward, ignoring pleas for calm. Some women wept, and at least three were taken away unconscious.

Kikwete's personal physician, Dr Peter Mfisi, however ruled out serious problems.

The incident, which took about 10 minutes, evoked memories of a similar collapse at the same venue five years ago, as Mr Kikwete was winding up his grueling campaigns, when he first vied for the presidency. Then, he also collapsed in the middle of his address.

Saturday’s episode was the third time that Kikwete had collapsed in public. The last time was on October 4, last year, when he fell down at Mwanza’s CCM Kirumba Stadium, while addressing the African Inland Church of Tanzania (AICT) centenary celebrations.