Bernard Membe

Bernard Kamilius Membe (9 November 1953 – 12 May 2023) was a Tanzanian politician.

Membe served as a national security analyst at the President's Office from 1978 to 1989.

He thereafter attended Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. where he studied international relations from 1990 to 1992.

In 1992, he was assigned to serve as an Advisor of the Tanzanian High Commissioner in Ottawa, Canada, where he served until 2000.

He also served as a Member of Parliament for Mtama constituency from 2000 to 2015.

Membe was educated at Rondo-Chiponda Extended Primary School and Namupa Seminary Secondary School for his O Levels.

He attended Itaga Seminary High School for his A Levels.

He studied political science at the University of Dar es Salaam and international relations at Johns Hopkins University.

He did his national service for one year at Oljoro Military Camp in Arusha Region.

In 2000, he was elected as a CCM member of parliament representing the Mtama constituency in the general election.

The amount in question was due to the sale of an overpriced radar to Tanzania in 2002.

He insisted the charity would not be allowed to operate in the country if the payment was to proceed.

Membe was quoted as saying, "These people are desperately trying to exonerate themselves of a graft scandal and pass the buck to the government, for the world to believe that Tanzania is so corrupt that it cannot be trusted."

Despite Bernard Membe's statement that "These people are desperately trying to exonerate themselves of a graft scandal and pass the buck to the government, for the world to believe that Tanzania is so corrupt that it cannot be trusted" he has never condemned anyone in Tanzania for the corruption involved in the BAE scandal.

In 2004, British investors Stewart Middleton and Sarah Hermitage purchased a 45-year lease to Silverdale & Mbono farms, situated in the Hai District of the Kilimanjaro Region from Benjamin Mengi, brother to Reginald Mengi owner of IPP Media a close friend of President Kikwete and Chairman of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation.

One year after the assignment, Benjamin Mengi demanded the lease back, stating he had not been paid in full.

He was re-elected in 2005 and 2010.

He was appointed Deputy Minister of Home Affairs by President Jakaya Kikwete after the 2005 general elections.

After a cabinet reshuffle in October 2006, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy and Minerals.

He served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania from 2007 to 2015.

In January 2007, he was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation after his predecessor Asha-Rose Migiro was appointed the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General by the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

He also served as a member of the National Executive Committee of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party beginning in 2007; having been re-elected in 2012 at the 8th CCM Congress in Dodoma.

In June 2008, Membe spoke on behalf of three SADC countries saying that if the Zimbabwean runoff election were to be held it would never be free and fair due to the violence.

Joram Gumbo of the ruling Zanu-PF accused Membe of bias.

On 2 September he said that Tanzania would like to see a 50-50 power sharing agreement in order to avert the Zimbabwean economic crisis.

In November 2010 at the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People held in Dar es Salaam, he said that Israel needed to halt the siege of Gaza, cease illegal construction in the occupied land and also dismantle the separation wall.

He was also dismayed by Israel's excessive use of force saying that the Palestinians fight using stones and catapults but the Israelis retaliate with disproportional power by using bullets and bombs.

In October 2011, Membe stressed that Tanzania fully supports Palestine's bid to join the United Nations.

In May 2011, Membe rejected BAE Systems decision to pay Tanzania the ex gratia amount of £29.5 million via a charity.

In March 2012 Dr. Edward Hosea Tanzania’s most senior anti-corruption officer and head of Tanzania’s Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) was reported to have stated that no Tanzanian was involved in the BAE radar scandal.

The rising levels of corruption in Tanzania under the Kikwete regime is well documented, but this statement by Hosea, reported in Tanzania’s part State owned newspaper the Daily News on 31 March if accurate, demonstrates an arrogant refusal to address it.

No comment from Bernard Membe was forthcoming after this statement by Hosea.

Membe's foreign ministry has also been blighted by the Silverdale Farm issue and the corrupt conduct of the powerful Mengi family in Tanzania.

In January 2013, Membe informed his constituents that he would not be vying for a seat in the next parliamentary elections in 2015 thus giving rise at the time to speculation that he may have been considering a run for the presidency of Tanzania.

In February 2020, the CCM's central committee expelled Membe from the party after accusing him of " indiscipline and violating the party's ethics and constitution".

He denied wrongdoing and said he was expelled because he wanted to stand for nomination as the party's presidential candidate.

In July 2020 he handed back his CCM membership card.

Later that month he joined the opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT) and said he was willing to stand as its candidate in the presidential election in 2020.

In March 2022 he returned to his former political party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi.

The Central Committee for CCM agreed and decided to reinstate his membership.