Former PM Warioba reveals why many Tanzanians do not turn out to vote in elections
Judge Joseph Warioba, a former premier minister, speaks at a media symposium hosted by the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) in Dodoma yesterday. PHOTO | HAMIS MNIHA
What you need to know:
- A poor voter participation was caused, according to Warioba, by a number of circumstances, such as the announcement of those who were not elected by the public and the existence of appointment positions.
Dodoma. Retired Prime Minister (judge) Joseph Warioba has listed issues that, if addressed early, will enable many citizens to participate in elections to elect leaders and representatives in decision-making organs.
Judge Warioba made the statement on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at a conference and election of media stakeholders organized by the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) held in Dodoma.
He said there were many factors leading to citizens’ boycotting elections, resulting in a low voter turnout, including the presence of appointment position within respective parties and the announcement of individuals who were not voted by citizens.
"In the past, district annual meetings were involved in selecting their candidates, but corruption crept in and they decided to step down, even at the ward level where the citizens are, they allowed all members in the constituency to be given the opportunity to select, thinking that they cannot be bribed, but corruption has also crept in there," said Judge Warioba.
He said if citizens are not provided with a candidate they know to be a suitable leader, they have their own ways of dealing with it, including boycotting elections, which is why in recent years there has been a low turnout of voters because the leaders sent to them do not have the qualifications to be leaders.
He said in today's world where leaders do not consider the lower-level citizens in decision-making, it causes citizens to live by their own rules, including boycotting elections.
"I was following a by-election for councillors; there is one ward, I think it's in Mara, where the registered voters were 6,000, but those who turned out to vote and choose a leader were only 1,000; this is dangerous because citizens are tired," said Judge Warioba.
He said even the entire process of preparing voters may not go well from voter registration in the permanent register, arrangement of polling stations, the number of voters at each station, voting, and vote counting is a source of citizens boycotting elections.
"You find one station has many voters, then the papers sent are few, and the station supervisors delay to come and open it alone, can cause many people not to vote, either due to lack of ballots, lack of patience to wait in long lines to vote, or because the managers delayed opening the stations, so the citizens decide to leave," he said.
He said the media has a significant role in ensuring that the issue of elections is conducted fairly, starting to monitor all important steps of the election rather than waiting for things to go wrong before reporting.
"I don't know if you are following the improvement of the permanent voters' register that is ongoing in the country or if you are waiting until citizens start complaining that they have not been registered before you start writing, now when you tell us that someone has been forgotten to register and when the registration process has already closed, what help does it give us, you should start monitoring from now," said Warioba.
Veteran journalist General Ulimwengu has urged the media and politicians to stop the auction of elections as it is unhealthy for the nation.
He said during elections, if the media does not uphold their ethics and professional principles, they will be bought by politicians, and ultimately, this will cause chaos.
Veteran journalist Edda Sanga called for education to be provided to journalists on how to report on general elections rather than being used by politicians who, in the end, will ruin the entire profession.
Former leader of the ACT Wazalendo Party Zitto Kabwe said the media plays a significant role in the success or failure of political parties in ongoing elections in the country.
He said through research he conducted during the 2020 elections, newspapers owned by the Mwananchi Communications Ltd (MCL) provided equal coverage to all political parties in the country.
He said the Mwananchi reported opposition party events by 27 percent and ruling party events by 27 percent, while in the 2010 elections, they sent journalists to all polling stations in the country and obtained results that were close to those announced by the National Electoral Commission.
"So the media has a significant contribution to political parties in the elections, although they are more focused on reporting events rather than educating the citizens," Zitto said.
