Juma Duni Haji

Juma Duni Haji (born 26 November 1950) is a Tanzanian politician and former civil servant. He is the Chairperson of ACT Wazalendo. He previously served as the Deputy Chairman of the Civic United Front from 2014 to 2015.

He was selected as the running mate of Edward Lowassa, the CHADEMA presidential candidate for the 2015 election, which necessitated his defection.

Early life and career Duni was born in Kibeni village in Mkwajuni. He was educated at Mkwajuni Primary School (1959–65) and at Gamal Abdel Nassar (present-day Beit el Ras) Secondary School (1966–69). He pursued his A-levels at Lumumba Secondary School from 1970 to 1971. He then joined the University of Dar es Salaam and graduated with a BSc in education in 1975.

Political career Following the end of one-party system in the 1990s, Duni joined the opposition Civic United Front party.

In 1997, he won the Mkunazini by-election to the Zanzibar House of Representatives (ZHoR). He too was arrested, and Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience. The Court of Appeal ruled that a treasonous offence cannot be committed "against Zanzibar as [it] is not a sovereign state." President Salmin Amour ordered their release just before the end of his tenure in 2000.

In 2009, President Amani Abeid Karume nominated him to the ZHoR. Following the 2010 election, President Ali Mohamed Shein appointed him as the Zanzibari Minister for Health, CUF Secretary-General Seif Sharif Hamad said that Duni was reluctant to defect.