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.

[3] 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 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.

[10] 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.

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.

[14] 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 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.

A four-year campaign of violence and harassment was then unleashed against the investors, facilitated by the police and judiciary and involving a plethora of State institutions.

This criminal conduct remains unchecked despite the personal promises of President Kikwete and Bernard Membe to the British government that the rule of law would be upheld in this case.

Importantly, the court found that he was complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin in his attempts to steal the investors property i.e. the lease to Silverdale and Mbono Farms.

Albeit on a small scale, the British investors in the Silverdale issue had the opportunity to provide truly sustainable development in Tanzania and to improve the lives of the poor.

[16] As foreign minister, Membe served as the chairman of the Executive Council of the African Union for one year when Tanzania assumed the rotating chair of the continental body in January 2008.