Political standoff: PO-RALG's election oversight sparks debate

Dar es Salaam. Political parties and stakeholders have expressed strong concerns over the recent announcement that local government elections slated for November this year would be supervised by the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) instead of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The supervision of local government elections has been shifted to INEC through the recent enactment of the INEC ACT of 2024, which was enacted in January this year.

The act was passed by parliament alongside two other laws, namely the President, Legislators and Councillors ACT of 2024, as well as the Political Party Issues of 2024.

Section 10(1)(c) of the INEC Act of 2024 gives the independent electoral body the mandate to oversee local government elections, shifting the legal responsibilities that have been entrusted to the PO-RALG for many years.

“By the provisions of Articles 74(6), 75, and 78 of the United Republic of Tanzania Constitution, the Commission (INEC) shall have the following responsibilities,” reads Section 10(1) of the enacted law.

“To oversee and coordinate the conduct of elections for village, ward, and neighbourhood governments in mainland Tanzania, by the use of procedures stipulated in the law to be enacted by Parliament,” reads subsection (1)(d) of the act.

However, when recently asked about the presence of the laws and regulations that would oversee the polls, the INEC director of elections, Dr Athumani Kailima, said some individuals erroneously believe that the Constitution mandates INEC to oversee these elections.

"The commission should oversee local government elections according to a law enacted by Parliament, which has not yet been enacted," he explained.

He said as a result, the responsibility for these elections falls to the President’s Office-Regional Administration, and Local Government, not INEC.

However, Dr Kailima’s statement has been received with strong opposition from representatives of political parties and pundits who believe that Section 10(1)(d) of the law has repealed the provision of the law that mandated PO-RALG with the legal mandate to oversee the elections.

ACT-Wazalendo secretary general Ado Shaibu said in a statement dated June 14, 2024, that, “ACT Wazalendo strongly opposes the statement made by Dr Kailima because it lacks any legal or logical basis.”

He said the absence of legislation to oversee local government elections does not give PO-RALG legal powers to the polls because powers providing PO-RALG with the authority to oversee the election were also repealed by the enactment of Section 167 of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Councillor Elections Act of 2024.

Section 167 of the said law reads, “The National Elections Act of 1985 and the Local Government Elections Act of 1979 are repealed.”

He said the government should table a bill in Parliament for the enactment of a law and subsequent formulation of regulation that will govern local government elections under the INEC.

“We reiterate our position that mandating the PO-RALG to oversee local polls is contrary to the country laws. This also tarnishes President Samia Suluhu Hassan's 4R (reconciliation, resilience, reforms, and rebuilding) philosophy,” he said.

Chadema’s director of protocol, communications, and foreign affairs, John Mrema, said letting the PO-RALG oversee local polls is like mandating the president’s office to do something that has been criticised for many years by different political stakeholders in the country.

“INEC is the one authorised by the law to oversee these elections. On top of that, INEC does not have any legal powers to grant PO-RALG oversight powers,” he said.

He said a law should be enacted for INEC to oversee local government elections instead of illegally transferring oversight powers.

“Granting the PO-RALG with powers to oversee local government elections undermines the concept of free, fair, and credible elections in the country because the efficiency of the said body can be hindered by the President’s Office as well as the ruling party,” he said.

According to him, one week was enough for Parliament to deliberate and enact the law to efficiently make INEC the supervising authority.

The CUF's Protocol, Communications, and Foreign Affairs director, Mr Mohamed Ngulangwa, said INEC has been granted permission to oversee local government elections, the role that has been done by PO-RALG for many years.

“Justice should be upheld by following the requirements of the law through the legislation that will be enacted by Parliament. The law should be enacted because still there is time,” he said.

“The government was aware that the INEC Act will require the recruitment of senior officials through stipulated procedures for the commission to be independent. However, nothing has been done other than reinstatement of existing executives,” he added, saying probably there was no political will to ensure held elections were free, fair, and credible. Furthermore, he said ongoing measures try to deceive the international community that Tanzania was taking legal measures to scale up democratic processes, noting that the truth on the matter was on the contrary.

“People are discouraged, and the faith they had in achieving democratic transformation is eroded. Their dreams of President Samia SUluhu Hassan's 4R philosophy are vanishing,” he said.

A political science and public administration lecturer at the University of Dodoma (Udom), Dr Paul Loisulie, said the problem lies with the CCM government’s will to have an independent electoral body to oversee its elections in Tanzania.

“There is no political will. If INEC cannot be trusted with election oversight, including the civic polls, what is the point of its existence?” he questioned.

He also said that to achieve an independent electoral commission, democratic stakeholders and those involved in political matters should continue exerting pressure for the country to have an independent electoral commission that can guarantee free, fair, and credible elections.

“People should not lose hope; rather, they should push for the enactment of laws that will create a better political environment in the country,” he said.

His University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) counterpart, Dr Richard Mbunda, said INEC was enacted to oversee all vital elections, including the local government elections, for the processes to be free, fair, and credible.

He said local government elections are used by political parties to measure their acceptance and give them a picture of the competition they will face in the upcoming general election.

“That is the main reason local government elections need to be supervised by INEC instead of PO-RALG sitting in the office of the president. This denies the PO-RALG the eligibility to oversee elections,” he said.

Furthermore, Dr Mbunda said moving civic polls back to the PO-RALG was an intentional move to politically benefit the ruling CCM.

His UDSM colleague, Dr Onesmo Kyauke, said there is no parent law for governing local government elections in Tanzania, noting that all other laws were supposed to be supported by it.

“Parliament should first enact the parent law before proceeding to passing subsidiary laws. The current laws were not specifically enacted for local government polls but rather for general elections,” he said.

He added that allowing PO-RALG to oversee local government elections would be like a pretence of having an election body to oversee the elections, but the reality is that it cannot guarantee free, fair, and credible polls.

“Even though the current commission is not as independent as it was expected and referred to, it would be better if both elections (general and local government) were combined and conducted under the INEC supervision instead of the PO-RALG,” he concluded.