Edward Lowassa

{{Short description|Tanzanian politician (1953–2024)}}
{{Disputed|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable|Right Honourable]]
| name                = Edward Lowassa
| image               = Edward Lowasa (cropped).jpg
| order               = [[List of Prime Ministers of Tanzania|8th]]
| office              = Prime Minister of Tanzania
| term_start          = 30 December 2005
| term_end            = 7 February 2008
| president           = [[Jakaya Kikwete]]
| predecessor         = [[Frederick Sumaye]]
| successor           = [[Mizengo Pinda]]
| office2             = Minister of Water<br/>and Livestock Development
| term_start2         = 2000
| term_end2           = 2005
| president2          = [[Benjamin Mkapa]]
| predecessor2        = 
| successor2          = [[Stephen Wasira]]
| office3             = [[Member of Parliament (Tanzania)|Member of Parliament]]<br>for [[Monduli District|Monduli]]
| term_start3         = November 1995
| term_end3           = October 2015
| predecessor3        = 
| successor3          = Julius Kalanga
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1953|08|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Arusha]], [[Tanganyika Territory]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|2024|02|10|1953|8|26}}
| death_place         = [[Dar es Salaam]], Tanzania
| restingplace        = Ngarash village, [[Monduli District, Arusha|Monduli]]
| nationality         = Tanzanian
| party               = [[Chama Cha Mapinduzi|CCM]] (1977–2015)<br />[[CHADEMA]] (2015–2019)<br />[[Chama Cha Mapinduzi|CCM]] (2019–2024)
| spouse              = 
| children            = 5
| alma_mater          = [[University of Dar es Salaam]]<br>[[University of Bath]] {{small|(MSc)}}
| religion            = 
| website             = [https://www.facebook.com/EdwardLowassaTZ Official Facebook profile]
<!--Military service-->| allegiance          = {{nowrap|{{flag|Tanzania|name=United Rep. of Tanzania|size=20px}}}}
| branch              = [[Tanzanian Army]]
| serviceyears        = 
| rank                = <!--[[Rank and Insignia of the Tanzanian Armed Forces#Officer ranks|-->
| unit                = 
| commands            = 
| battles             = [[Uganda–Tanzania War]]<ref>[http://www.mwananchi.co.tz/habari/habari-ya-ndani/-/1724700/2741100/-/xj08d9z/-/index.html ''Lowassa, Mtoto wa tarishi anayetaka urais''], ''Mwananchi''</ref>
| mawards             = [[File:War Medal (Tanzania) - ribbon bar.png|border|25px]] [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Tanzania#Campaign Medals|''Nishani ya Vita'']]
}}

'''Edward Ngoyai Lowassa''' (26 August 1953 – 10 February 2024) was a Tanzanian politician who was [[List of Prime Ministers of Tanzania|Prime Minister of Tanzania]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Lowassa calls for comprehensive electoral reforms |url=http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Lowassa-calls-for-comprehensive-electoral-reforms/1840340-4766894-12fwmd1z/index.html |website=The Citizen TZ |access-date=7 October 2018}}</ref> from 2005 to 2008, serving under President [[Jakaya Kikwete]].<ref name="Lowassa Member of Parliament CV">[http://www.parliament.go.tz/index.php/members/mpcvs/1021/2010-2015 "Lowassa Member of Parliament CV"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726184050/http://www.parliament.go.tz/index.php/members/mpcvs/1021/2010-2015 |date=26 July 2015 }}, ''Parliament of Tanzania'', 21 October 2010.</ref> Lowassa went into record as the first Prime Minister to have been forced to resign by a fraud scandal in the history of Tanzania.<ref name="Tanzanian PM to resign over graft">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7232141.stm "Tanzanian PM to resign over graft"], ''BBC'', 7 February 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.africaonemedia.com/from-graft-accusations-to-resignation-to-the-rebound-is-it-lowassas-time/ "From graft accusations to resignation to the rebound. Is it Lowassa's time?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731041822/http://www.africaonemedia.com/from-graft-accusations-to-resignation-to-the-rebound-is-it-lowassas-time/ |date=31 July 2015 }}, ''Africa One Media'', 30 July 2015.</ref> Following his resignation President Kikwete was obliged to dissolve his cabinet as required by the Constitution and with minimum delay, constituted a new one under a new Prime Minister, [[Mizengo Pinda]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

After the ruling [[Chama cha Mapinduzi|CCM]] failed to select him as its [[2015 Chama Cha Mapinduzi presidential primaries|candidate]] for the [[2015 Tanzanian general election|October 2015 presidential election]], he left the party and stood instead as an opposition candidate. He was defeated in the election by CCM candidate [[John Magufuli]].

==Biography==

===Early life===
Edward Lowassa was the fourth child of the herdsman Ngoyai Lowassa, who worked part-time for the colonial government in [[Monduli District]] in [[Arusha Region]] as a ''tarish'' (village law enforcement).<ref>[http://www.mwananchi.co.tz/habari/habari-ya-ndani/-/1724700/2741100/-/xj08d9z/-/index.html "Lowassa, Mtoto wa tarishi anayetaka urais"], Mwananchi.co.tz, 5 June 2015.</ref>

===Education===
Lowassa joined Monduli Primary School (which was later renamed to Moringe Primary School) in 1961. Lowassa was the school band leader at Monduli Primary School and in 1967 he sat for the CPEE. He then went on to Arusha Secondary School in 1968 and sat for his O-Level Certificate, the CSEE in 1971. For his A-Levels, he attended Milambo Secondary School from 1972 to 1973 where he sat for his ACSEE.

Lowassa received his undergraduate degree, a BA in Fine and Performing Arts. He moved on to the [[University of Dar es Salaam]] in 1977. There, he encountered Jakaya Kikwete and John Chilligati. In 1978 he was conscripted into the army and fought in the [[Kagera War]] between Tanzania and Uganda. Lowassa then went on to earn a MSc. Development Studies from The [[University of Bath]] in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1984.<ref name="Lowassa Member of Parliament CV" />

===Career===
[[File:Felix Mrema and Edward Lowasa.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Lowassa (right).]]
Lowassa served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office during President [[Ali Hassan Mwinyi]]'s second term. He sought the nomination of [[Chama Cha Mapinduzi]] (CCM) as its presidential candidate in 1995 but was eliminated in the early stages by the former President [[Julius Nyerere]], who strongly believed that Lowassa was not then correct material for the Presidency. He retained his parliamentary seat and became a strong backbencher in Parliament until 1997 when he was appointed Minister for State in the Vice President's Office for Environment and Poverty.

Following the 2000 general elections, he was appointed Minister of Water and Livestock Development and made his mark as a hardworking minister. In 2005 Lowassa chose not to seek the CCM presidential nomination but became a key campaigner for his long-time friend, Jakaya Kikwete, in his bid for the presidential seat.

Kikwete, running on a CCM ticket, won the elections by beating other contestants by a large margin. He received 82% of the votes. In return, President Kikwete nominated Lowassa as Prime Minister on 29 December 2005. Parliament overwhelmingly confirmed the nomination, with 312 votes in favour and two opposed, and Lowassa was sworn in on 30 December.<ref>Bilal Abdul-Aziz, [http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2005/12/30/56832.html "Lowassa new PM"], ''Guardian'' (IPP Media), 30 December 2005.</ref> Lowassa had an extensive background in both parliamentary and government affairs.

==Richmond corruption scandal==
On 7 February 2008, Lowassa was forced to resign after being implicated in the Richmond Energy deal corruption scandal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Will elections steer Tanzania in a new direction? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/10/24/will-elections-steer-tanzania-in-a-new-direction/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=7 October 2018}}</ref> This followed a parliamentary select committee report on an emergency power generation contract between the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd ([[TANESCO]]), a public corporation, and a US company styled Richmond Development Company LLC of Houston, Texas. The five-member select committee, headed by Kyela MP, Dr. [[Harrison Mwakyembe]], found the contract to have been fraudulently concluded, hence unconscionable. Richmond was contracted to provide 100 megawatts of electricity each day after a drought early in 2006 but the Richmond generators arrived late and did not work as expected. In spite of this, the government paid Richmond more than $100,000 a day.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Lowassa's office then influenced the government's decision to extend Richmond's contract despite advice to the contrary from TANESCO. Two other cabinet ministers who had held the energy portfolio, Dr. Ibrahim Msabaha and Nazir Karamagi were forced to resign as well.<ref name=hindu08>{{Citation  | last = Associated Press  | author-link = Associated Press  | title = Tanzania's Cabinet dissolved after PM, Energy Minister resign  | newspaper = [[The Hindu]]  | publisher = [[The Hindu Group]]  | date = 8 February 2008  | url = http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200802081550.htm  | access-date = 3 April 2010  | archive-date = 9 February 2008  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080209121828/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200802081550.htm  | url-status = dead  }}</ref><ref name=Mehler>{{Cite book  | last1 = Mehler  | first1 = Andreas  | last2 = Melber  | first2 = Henning  | last3 = Van Walraven  | first3 = Klaas  | title = Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2008  | publisher = BRILL  | year = 2009  | pages = 376  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xOVYchAfCYYC&pg=PA377  | isbn =978-90-04-17811-3
}}</ref>

Lowassa however denied that his office was involved in improperly awarding a contract to US-based electricity company Richmond Development in 2006.<ref name="Tanzanian PM to resign over graft"/>

==Presidential aspirations==
In 1995, Lowassa was among the more than 15 CCM aspirants for the presidency, but he was stopped in his tracks by retired president Julius Nyerere, who found him to have enriched himself too fast. Lowassa was eliminated by Nyerere's fiat and that contest within the party was eventually won by Benjamin Mkapa, who also won the election and became Tanzania's third president.<ref>Jenerali Ulimwengu, [https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/As-Kikwete-succession-hots-up-Edward-Lowassa-is-man-to-watch/-/434750/2217350/-/item/1/-/11rn244z/-/index.html "As the race to succeed Kikwete hots up, Lowassa is the man to watch"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301205058/https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/As-Kikwete-succession-hots-up-Edward-Lowassa-is-man-to-watch/-/434750/2217350/-/item/1/-/11rn244z/-/index.html |date=1 March 2020 }}, ''The East African'', 22 February 2014.</ref>

In 2005, Lowassa strongly backed his friend Jakaya Kikwete and the two were dubbed "Boys Two Men" because of their strong political union that eventually enabled Kikwete to defeat all his rivals within the ruling party.<ref name="thecitizen.co.tz">[http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/national/-/1840392/2662034/-/l42xjvz/-/index.html "The big fear behind Lowassa's presidential aspirations"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235509/https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/national/-/1840392/2662034/-/l42xjvz/-/index.html |date=1 March 2020 }}, ''The Citizen '', 22 March 2015.</ref>

In 2014, Lowassa faced a one-year ban from CCM after he was accused of starting his campaign for presidency ahead of the authorized time. The ban expired in February 2015, only to be extended by the CCM Central Committee on the grounds that their final report was still not ready.<ref name="thecitizen.co.tz"/>

In May 2015, Lowassa eventually launched his presidential campaign in Arusha. He stated that his top priorities would be overhauling the country's education sector, reducing poverty, boosting economic growth and fighting corruption.<ref>Reuters [http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ex-tanzanian-prime-minister-lowassa-launches-presidential-bid/2801934.html "Ex-Tanzanian PM Lowassa Launches Presidential Bid"], ''Voice of America '', 31 May 2015.</ref>

On 11 July 2015, the CCM Central Committee eliminated Lowassa from its list of presidential aspirants. CCM shortlisted January Makamba, Bernard Membe, Asha-Rose Migiro, John Magufuli and Amina Salum Ali for the National Executive Committee (NEC) vote of 378 members. The elimination of Lowassa came as a shock to many who viewed him as an inevitable candidate.<ref>[https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/CCM-fallout-looms-as-Lowassa-left-out-of-presidential-race/-/2558/2783678/-/1vfc38z/-/index.html "CCM fallout looms as Lowassa left out of presidential race"], ''The East African'', 11 July 2015.</ref>

Having failed to get the nomination, Lowassa denounced the CCM as "infested with leaders who are dictators, undemocratic and surrounded with greedy power mongers." He left the party and instead joined [[Chadema]], an opposition party. On 4 August 2015, he was designated as the presidential candidate of a coalition of four opposition parties, including Chadema.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/tanzanian-opposition-pick-ex-prime-minister-presidential-race-151615018.html "Tanzanian opposition pick ex-prime minister for presidential race"], AFP, 4 August 2015.</ref> On 1 March 2019 Lowassa left Chadema and rejoined the CCM.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 March 2019|title=Veteran Tanzanian politician Edward Lowassa returns to CCM|url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/veteran-tanzanian-politician-edward-lowassa-returns-to-ccm-1413444|url-status=live|access-date=27 October 2021|website=The East African|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027162506/https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/veteran-tanzanian-politician-edward-lowassa-returns-to-ccm-1413444 |archive-date=27 October 2021 }}</ref>

==Positions held==
Lowassa held various positions in the government since the late 1980s:

* Managing Director of the [[Arusha International Conference Centre]], 1989–1990
* Minister for State, Prime Minister's Office and First Vice President (Judiciary & Parliamentary Affairs), 1990–1993
* Minister of Lands, Human Settlement Development,1993–1995
* Minister for State — Environment & Poverty, Vice President's Office, 1997–2000
* Minister of Water and Livestock Development, 2000–2005
* Member of Parliament for Monduli Constituency, 1990–2015
* Prime Minister, 2005–2008

==Death==
Edward Lowassa died after a long illness at the [[Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute|Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac lnstitute]] (JKCI) in [[Dar es Salaam]], on 10 February 2024. He was 70. Vice president [[Philip Mpango]] announced Lowassa's death live on national television.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 February 2024 |title=Tanzania's former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa dead at 70 |url=https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/tanzania-s-former-prime-minister-edward-lowassa-dead-at-70-4520656 |access-date=10 February 2024 |website=The Citizen |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.friendsoflowassa.or.tz/biography] {{dead link|date=November 2015}}
* [http://www.kikweteshein.com/kikwete/thumbnails.php?album=6 Edward Lowassa Photo Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310224119/http://www.kikweteshein.com/kikwete/thumbnails.php?album=6 |date=10 March 2007 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180307005821/http://lowassa.org/ Lowassa Website]
* [http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12930 Edward Lowassa Speech at FAO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019103235/http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsummit/top/detail.asp?event_id=12930 |date=19 October 2013 }}
* [https://www.un.org/socialsummit/speeches/276tan.htm Edward Lowassa Speech at the UN Social Summit in Geneva]

{{s-start}}
{{Succession box
| before = [[Frederick Sumaye]]
| title  = [[List of Prime Ministers of Tanzania|Prime Minister of Tanzania]]
| years  = 2005–2008
| after  = [[Mizengo Pinda]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{TanzaniaPMs}}
{{Current CCM MPs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowassa, Edward}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Arusha Region]]
[[Category:Chama Cha Mapinduzi MPs]]
[[Category:Tanzanian MPs 1995–2000]]
[[Category:Tanzanian MPs 2000–2005]]
[[Category:Tanzanian MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Tanzanian MPs 2010–2015]]
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Tanzania]]
[[Category:Arusha Secondary School alumni]]
[[Category:Milambo Secondary School alumni]]
[[Category:University of Dar es Salaam alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Bath]]
[[Category:Chadema politicians]]
[[Category:Maasai people]]
[[Category:Military personnel of the Uganda–Tanzania War]]