The top leadership of Tanzania's ruling party has resigned and been replaced by a set of politicians with a cleaner image, amid infighting over President Jakaya Kikwete's succession.
The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party on Tuesday published its new management line-up on its website, confirming Yusuf Mukamba's exit as secretary general.
The overhaul of CCM's top brass was decided during a meeting which lasted late into the night and was attended by Kikwete, who remains the party's overall chairman.
"We should start afresh, we need to have upright leaders who have the interests of the nation at heart," Kikwete said in his closing address after admitting that the need for a CCM reform had been obvious for some time.
The CCM's old guard had been under pressure since the October 2010 general elections, which were marked by a record low turnout and saw the opposition gain ground in parliament.
Kikwete, who has been Tanzania's president since 2005 and is due to serve a second and last mandate until 2015, enjoys a relatively positive image abroad but his party has been plagued by graft allegations.
The post-election period led to several demonstrations by an apparently re-energised opposition.
The east African country's Deputy Foreign Minister Mahadhi Juma Maalim said last week that the upheaval in Libya and other Arab countries showed that leaders governing without popular backing did so at their own risk.
"This is the lesson to all of us in Africa and elsewhere that regimes that are in power without the consent of the people are no longer acceptable," he said.
Short link: