Chama Cha Mapinduzi

(CCM; Revolutionary Party), the ruling party of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The CCM was formed in January and February 1977 through the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU; founded 1954) and the Afro-Shirazi Party of Zanzibar and Pemba (founded 1957). It comprises workers, peasants, the progressive intelligentsia, and other strata of the working people. The party’s policies, as set forth in its charter, follow the socialist course proclaimed in the Arusha Declaration, which was adopted by the TANU in 1967. The CCM directs the activities of various public organizations, such as trade unions and youth and women’s organizations. Its foreign policy, which is anticolonialist and antiracist, advocates increased cooperation with the USSR and other socialist states.

The CCM is organized according to the production and territorial principle. The supreme body of the party is the National Conference; the supreme executive body is the Central Committee. The chairman of the CCM is J. K. Nyerere.