Hopes and challenges as Tanzanian elections near

Dar es Salaam. As the country prepares for the next civic polls in November this year and the general election in October 2025, the Tanzania Constitution Forum (TCF) has highlighted hopes and problems following the passage of three election laws earlier this year.

The laws that were, in March this year, assented into laws by President Samia Suluhu Hassan are the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Councillors Elections Act, 2024; the Political Parties Affairs Laws, 2024, and the Independent National Electoral Commission Act, 2024.

The hopes and challenges were unveiled following post-law enactment analysis jointly done by the TCF, the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) under funding from the European Union (EU).

Other political stakeholders who collaborated in the process are the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), Twaweza East Africa, the Tanzania Centre of Democracy (TCD), the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES-Tanzania).

Therefore, TCF convened a meeting with journalists here to share the findings of the analysis, specifically the hopes and challenges facing the Tanzanian political landscape even after the three political bills have been assented into the laws.

Hopes

Addressing journalists during the analysis, the Tanzania Constitution Forum (TCF) programme coordinator, Mr Thobias Messanga, said the enactment of the Independent National Electoral Commission Act of 2024, brings hope as it provides the appointment of its executives.

“Even if budget issues are not perfectly structured, it is encouraging that the country now has a law addressing these issues,” he said.

He said it is also encouraging that civic polls supervision has been shifted from the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as recommended by political stakeholders on different occasions.

"The shift has been a long outcry among political stakeholders to increase trust, and credibility of civic polls in the country, and do away with beliefs that under the PO-RALG the polls were adversely interfered by the CCM politicians,” he said.

Another hope brought by the law was removing executive directors from the mandatory requirement of serving as returning officers as specified by Section 6(1) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act.

He said the move was a sign and a significant shift towards increasing fairness and transparency in electoral processes.

Furthermore, he said the voting for uncontested candidates as outlined by Sections 38, 54, and 66 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act, streamlines the voting process, offering voters straightforward choices.

"Casting votes for such candidates has restored power for people to decide who should lead them, as they were previously deprived of the right to choose,” he said.

According to him, the fee waiver for citizens to repossess the lost, worn, or torn-off voter IDs as indicated by Sections 20 and 21 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act.

He said fees undermined voters' rights, especially those who couldn’t raise money to repossess the voter IDs, hence losing the fundamental right to vote.

Mr Messanga said Section 102 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act highlights the demand to provide all party agents with election result form copies. "The move will address concerns whose concerns were seriously raised by political stakeholders. Provision of the forms will smoothen electoral processes,” he emphasised.

Section 135 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act, he said, provides hope as it provides a commitment to addressing gender-based violence in elections.

"The provision will significantly close gaps that led to candidates attacking each other based on sex characteristics, especially through the establishment of an ethics committee," he said.

The TCF programme coordinator said promoting gender equality and inclusion in political parties and elections, as outlined by Section 10 of the Political Parties Affairs Act and Sections 12, 34(3), 50(3), 62(2), 79(c), and 84(3)(b) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act. "The move will provide people with disabilities with the opportunity to participate in elections, starting from the voting process and vying for different leadership positions," according to him.

Furthermore, he remarked on the significance of expediting justice in election disputes as stipulated in Section 144 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act, noting that halving the maximum period for the dispute conclusion brings significant hope.

“However, having good laws is one thing, but putting them into implementation is another. Much has to be done for the changes to bear intended fruits,” he said.

Challenges

Addressing a press conference after sharing the analysis of laws, TCF board chairperson, Dr Ananilea Nkya heightened the voting ban for prisoners and crime suspects as stipulated in Article 5(2)(c) of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) Constitution as well as Sections 10(1)(c) and (2) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act, which persists the long existing challenges in the Tanzanian democracy.

"Imprisoned Tanzanians don’t cease from being the country’s citizens. Policies and decisions made by the elected government will affect them in various ways, therefore, they are not supposed to be deprived of the voting right,” she said.

Regarding independent candidates, Dr Nkya said Articles 21, 37, 47, and 67 of the URT Constitution and Sections 43, 48, and 59(1)(f) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act have maintained the challenge.

"There is no need to push Tanzanians into politics to run for public offices despite disbelief in existing party ideologies,” she said.

Furthermore, she said Sections 140(2), 144(2), 147, and 150(2) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act have failed to address financial restrictions during elections, leaving the challenge unresolved.

"Someone should have more than Sh5 million to file an election case against an individual and Sh3 million more if accused persons exceed more than one person. It shows that access to justice heavily relies on money, without which it becomes a daylight nightmare,” she said.

Furthermore, she said presidential authorities provided over the members of the electoral commission, especially through Article 74(5) of the URT Constitution and Sections 8(3) and (4) of the INEC, hijacking the commission’s freedom.

She said Section 28 of the INEC Act directs that the former National Electoral Commission (NEC) executives will continue serving in the same capacities in the newly introduced INEC.

"The directives undermine the new electoral commission’s credibility of the independence to discharge its duties for the interest of Tanzanians,” said Dr Nkya.

Regarding the announcement of the presidential candidate who has won the polls, Dr Nkya said Article 41(6) of the URT Constitution and Section 45(10) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Local Council Elections Act require that a candidate with a simple majority will be declared the winner.

"This is very dangerous because there is a presidential candidate who has garnered less than 50 percent; let us say 23 percent will be announced as the winner. Are we going to refer him/her to the country’s leader,” she queried.

She said the continuing ban for presidential election results to be challenged in court was another challenge despite the enactment of the three election laws as provided by Article 41(7) of the URT Constitution.

"Presidential candidates and the general public have undermined the right to challenge the presidential election, therefore denying them the opportunity to seek justice through the courts, which is the institution for seeking justice," she said.

The TCF board boss said the analysis has recommended the implementation of several strategies for electoral oversight, including sustainable public engagement, collaboration with governmental authorities or institutions, public prosecutions on constitutional issues, and continuous policy analysis and research.

"The public should continue addressing these issues and be part of the law improvements,” she said.