Tanzania’s electoral body set to split, rename constituencies

Morogoro. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the commencement of the process to review, divide, or rename constituencies, with submissions of proposals open starting today. 

The submission time will last until March 26, 2025, according to the INEC chairperson, Justice Jacobs Mwambegele, who made the announcement shortly after presiding over a commission meeting in Morogoro yesterday.

 “By Regulation 18(1) of the 2024 INEC Regulations, I would like to inform the public that, starting tomorrow, Thursday, 27 February 2025, the Independent National Electoral Commission will begin the process of reviewing, dividing, or renaming electoral constituencies,” said Justice Mwambegele.

He elaborated that the process aligns with Article 74(6)(c) of the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania and Section 10(1)(d) of the Independent National Electoral Commission Act No. 2 of 2024, which mandates the commission to assess electoral boundaries and divide the United Republic into various constituencies for parliamentary elections.

According to Article 75(4) of the Constitution, the boundary review and division may be conducted periodically and at least once every ten years. 

The last review was in 2015 when 26 new constituencies were created. 

Justice Mwambegele reminded stakeholders submitting proposals to ensure their recommendations are first discussed at the District Consultative Committee level before being forwarded to the Regional Administrative Secretary for deliberation by the Regional Consultative Committee.

The Regional Administrative Secretary will then submit the approved proposals, along with supporting documents, to the INEC. The criteria for constituency division will consider population size. 

Urban constituencies are expected to have an average of 600,000 people, and rural constituencies have an average of 400,000 people.

The population figures will be based on data from the 2022 Population and Housing Census, as provided by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Other factors to be considered include the constituency’s economic profile, geographical size, administrative boundaries, the principle that a single constituency should not span more than one district or municipal council, settlement patterns, parliament’s seating capacity, the number of special seats for women MPs, access to communication infrastructure, and the geographical features of the area under consideration.

Local government authorities seeking to rename constituencies must follow the same procedure as those applying for boundary delimitation.