First multiparty elections held in Tanzania after years of single party rule

Dar es Salaam. A series of articles that we have been running on this page have shed light on how the first polls in the country were held in 1958 while Tanganyika was still under the British colonial rule.
In the polls, despite conditions set by the colonial government that required voters to vote for contest-ants from the groups of Africans, Indians and Whites, the Tanganyika African National Union (Tanu) party scored a landslide victory, scooping 28 seats out of 30 that were contested for.
Two years later--1960--, parliamentary elections were held, whereby Tanu scooped 70 seats out of 71 that were contested for.
After independence in 1961, Tanganyika conducted its polls in 1962 after becoming a republic, whereby Tanu emerged victorious again and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere was elected president of Tanganyika.
 The other polls were held in 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990 before the October 29, 1995 General Election that was the tenth to be held in the country involving a multiparty political system.
Until his voluntary retirement in November 1985, Mwalimu Nyerere, from the October 1965 polls, stood as the sole presidential candidate, who sailed through unopposed.
Likewise, his successor, President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, was picked as the sole presidential candidate during 1985 and 1990 polls.
The amendment of the constitution and the Political Parties Act of 1992 that allowed a multiparty system in the country did not only mean that the CCM contestants would be challenged by other aspirants from opposition parties in the October 1995 polls, but also saw the ruling party allowing its different cadres to contest for the position of president on the CCM ticket.
After the transformation of the Tanzania politics in 1992, before the October 1995 polls, there were three by-elections that were held in 1993 and 1994 at Kwahani in Zanzibar, Ileje and Kigoma Urban on the mainland.
Although the Kwahani by-election, which took place on April 19, 1993, involved opposition political parties, it was a piece of cake for CCM that got 89 percent of all votes cast.
In the Ileje by-election, which was held on January 30, 1994 following the death of minister Stephen Kibona, CCM emerged victorious after getting 78.5 percent of all votes cast.
The contestants for the Ileje by-election were Gideon Cheyo (CCM), who scooped 14,160 votes; Olufin-go Gwalusako (CUF, 1,000 votes); Mmanyi Malang’ombe (NCCR-Mageuzi, 908); Stewart Mwenison-gole (Tanzania Democratic Alliance-Tadea, 510); Chawinga Mulambo (Popular National Alliance-Pona, 508); Anangisye Pilika (NLD, 275) and John Tweve (Tanzania People’s Party—TPP).
However, in the Kigoma Urban by-election things were a bit different as CCM aspirant Azim Premji got 9,453 votes, Dr Aman Kabourou (Chadema, 5,325 votes); Pona party, 165; Tadea party 114; TPP party, 45 and NRZ party, 36. The last by-election was that one that involved the Igunga constituency, whose seat was left vacant fol-lowing the death of Education minis-ter Charles Kabeho.
 In the by-lection the winner was Rostam Aziz.On October 30, 1994 Tanzanians participated in the local government polls held in 2,418 wards across the country.
 In 1,191 wards, CCM aspir-ants sailed through unopposed.
The October 22, 1995 polls were in Zanzibar to elect president who dou-bled as the chairman of the Revolu-tionary Council.
That was one week before the General Election to elect president of the United Republic as well as Members of Parliament of the Union Parliament.
The position of president of Zanzibar was up for grabs by two sep-arate presidential candidates namely, Dr Salmin Amour on the CCM ticket and Seif Sharif Hamad on the CUF ticket.
At least 50 seats for members of the House of Representatives were contested for by 114 aspirants from six political parties.
On the part of the United Republic, the October 29, 1995 General Election was held as four presidential candidates from four political parties with their running mates participated in the polls.
The presidential candidates were Benjamin Mkapa (CCM), Augustine Mrema (NCCR-Mageuzi), Prof Ibrahim Lipumba (CUF) and John Cheyo (UDP).
In the parliamentary elections of 1995, a total of 232 seats were up for grabs as 182 seats were contested for on the mainland and 50 in Zanzibar.
The total number of seats in the Parliament of the United Republic was 274.At least 1,338 parliamentary aspir-ants from 13 registered political par-ties contested for the 232 seats.
 However, the only party that managed to field its contestants in every constituency was CCM.
Preparations for the October 1995 polls began officially on June 9, 1995 after the lawyer of the National Electoral Commission, Abraham Senguji, declared that voters would start to be registered countrywide on August 26. 1995.
Also, Senguji announced that elections of parliamentary and presidential contestants would take place on August 28 and campaigns would be launched from August 29 to October 28.
On the same day, Senguji also announced that the polls would take place Sunday on October 29, 1995 as the last time when the General Election was held was in October 1990.
At least eight million Tanzanians were expected to register for voting in the polls. At the time Tanzania was estimated to have a population of 26 million people.
Senguji’s report said that since Tanzania had already readopted a multi-party system at that time of the polls, then members and workers of his commission would cease to be members of any political party.
In accordance with the 11th amendments of the Constitution of the United Republic, which were made on January 17, 1995, all the seven members and 37 workers of the NEC were not allowed to be members of any political party.
“All the people who are involved in the General Election are not allowed to join any political party ... as the ones who are involved in the polls are the chairperson and deputy chairperson of NEC, workers of NEC and returning officers,” Senguji told reporters as he quoted the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.
 “Five members of the NEC took oaths on April 27, this year. One mem-ber took an oath on May 30 while another did that the other day,” said Senguji, who also showed the report-ers his oath that he was not a member of any political party.
However, what was thrilling in the polls was the action by former Labour minister Augustine Mrema, who announced to contest for Tanzania’s presidency on the NCCR-Mageuzi ticket after he vacated from CCM.
Mrema was expelled from a ministerial post and he later ejected himself from CCM and joined the NCCR-Mageuzi party after a tension occurred between himself and the government of President Ali Hassan Mwinyi.
The tension occurred due to a debate in Parliament over a parliamentary probe’s report that unearthed the issue of a foreign businessman, V. G. Chavda, who owned some sisal estates in the country.
However, before that, the issue hit the headlines in the press media for several months. The parliamentary probe advised that Chavda be arrest-ed and charged with embezzlement of millions of shillings under the Debt Conversion Programme (DCP).
The committee accused him of misusing Sh916 million loaned to him by the government so that he could develop sisal estates, but he could not do so.
Some ministers, except Mrema, viewed the businessman as innocent.
However, on February 11, 1995 the government kicked the businessman out of the country although three days later the High Court blocked the government from expelling him.
After that move, Mrema, while in Parliament, did not sit with fellow ministers and instead sat with MPs and he used that opportunity to blame Mwinyi’s government for protecting Chavda.
Mrema said he did not agree with the government over the way it was handling the issue of Chavda. After his unwavering stand, President Mwinyi announced to expel him from the cabinet for his failure of collective responsibility.