Intelligence Insight | Emmanuel Nchimbi: Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Running Mate and Potential 2030 Presidential Successor
Ujasusi Blog’s East Africa Monitoring Team | 10 August 2025 | 0240 BST
A Vice President-in-Waiting
On August 9, 2025, President Samia Suluhu Hassan officially launched her bid for a second term by collecting CCM’s presidential nomination forms in Dodoma – with Ambassador Dr. Emmanuel John Nchimbi at her side as running mate (The Guardian). Given CCM’s entrenched dominance, Samia is widely expected to cruise to victory in the October 29 general election, which would make Nchimbi the next Vice President. This role as de facto vice president-in-waiting instantly positions the 53-year-old Nchimbi as a leading contender to succeed Samia when her final term ends in 2030. Indeed, analysts note that CCM’s choice of Nchimbi was a strategic move to bolster party unity and signal a forward-looking leadership transition (The Citizen).
Despite unverified rumours of a rift between Samia and her new deputy, Nchimbi has publicly pledged absolute loyalty. Grateful for being chosen, he vowed to “serve as her supportive partner, not a competitor” (The Guardian). This emphatic statement, delivered during the nomination event, was aimed at quashing any speculation that he harbours personal presidential ambitions before 2030. Nchimbi’s selection itself came after the sitting VP, Dr. Philip Mpango, reportedly asked to step aside for personal reasons, allowing Samia to pick a running mate better aligned with her current agenda (The Chanzo). Nchimbi’s elevation from CCM’s Secretary-General (a post he assumed in January 2024) to running mate surprised many observers, given that he had only recently returned to front-line politics after years abroad as a diplomat. But backing from party elders – Samia consulted former presidents like Jakaya Kikwete and Amani Karume before naming him – helped secure broad support for Nchimbi’s nomination (The Chanzo).