Samia to officials: Declare intention to run early or else

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has urged district commissioners (DCs), district executive directors (DEDs), and other government employees intending to contest in the October 2025 General Election to inform the government well in advance, warning that failure to do so could have serious consequences. 

“There are some of my district executive directors (DEDs) and district commissioners eager to return to the people. I instructed the Chief Secretary to send out guidelines to local governments, and I believe the minister (Mohamed Mchengerwa – Regional Administration and Local Government) has received them. Anyone intending to contest must notify us early,” President Hassan said yesterday during the opening of the 39th annual general meeting in Dodoma. 

She noted that early notification would allow the government to fill vacant positions promptly by promoting employees from lower levels. 

She said that the government does not want a situation where officials abandon their posts during the nomination process, creating administrative gaps in local government. 

“If we are informed early enough, we can begin the process of filling these positions by providing guidelines and conducting necessary training to prepare individuals for the election,” she said. 

She added: “If you fail to notify us in advance and come later to collect nomination forms, you will be disqualified from the process and won’t return to your position.” 

“If you inform us early, you will be given the opportunity to try, and even if you fail, we will still value your efforts. But if you wait until the last minute, you will lose everything, my dear,” she cautioned. 

President Hassan also urged officials to assess their readiness before deciding to contest. “I don’t want to hide anything from you, and we don’t want to conduct the election without competent individuals in the field... To those wishing to seek the mandate, I wish them all the best.” 

Her remarks echoed a similar warning issued in 2019 by the late President John Magufuli, who criticised regional commissioners, DCs, and DEDs secretly positioning themselves for parliamentary seats, accusing them of being driven by greed.

“Those preparing to run in the next election can go ahead... but I want to assure you that you cannot have it all. There are 53 million Tanzanians,” he said at the time. 

The government has made significant progress in reforming local government structures over the past three years. 

President Hassan noted that her administration has actively restructured local governments—not for personal gain, but to ensure the presence of competent officials capable of working alongside the government to achieve its goals. 

The reforms, she said, have included appointing and dismissing various officials, particularly council executives at district, city, and municipal levels. 

She said since assuming office, she has been clear that those unable to keep up with the required pace of work will face consequences. 

She also recalled how, in 2021, she urged authorities to address management challenges by adopting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems while taking firm action against corrupt officials. 

“That’s what I have been saying—restructuring, restructuring, to filter out the corrupt and lazy workers. We have already filtered and reached 85 percent, and we are still going,” she said.