The central committee of Tanzania's opposition ACT-Wazalendo party endorsed former livestock minister Luhaga Mpina as one of two aspirants to lead the party's presidential ticket after he defected from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, or CCM, The Citizen reported on Aug. 6. ACT-Wazalendo said its national congress would vote to decide the final presidential ticket and that it had accepted party leader Dorothy Semu's decision to withdraw her candidacy.

Mpina's defection to ACT-Wazalendo comes after he was excluded from the CCM's parliamentary list on July 29. This exclusion followed his criticism of Hassan's work in June. Tanzania's electoral commission is scheduled to confirm candidates for the parliamentary and presidential races on Aug. 27.