Tanzanian minister on the spot over election rigging statement
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania's Minister of Information, Communication, and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye, is under scrutiny for publicly embracing election rigging.
Nnauye, who is a member of the ruling party CCM, said in a widely shared video, that "victory in elections is not determined by the number of votes in the ballot box but depends on who counts and announces the results."
He says the statement was made as a joke.
The Minister, who previously served as CCM's Secretary for Ideology and Publicity, made the statement on July 15, 2024, while visiting the Kashai market in the Kagera region and speaking to the public.
He made the statement while assuring the victory of Bukoba Urban MP Stephen Byabato in the 2025 General Election.
In the video clip, Mr Nnauye is quoted speaking in Kashai Ward, Bukoba Municipality, Kagera Region saying other people expecting to vie for leadership position in the region should wait because there was no problem for them to wait.
“Because I’m good at election tricks, I will assist to emerge victorious. Election results are not necessarily those in the box, rather they depend on the person counting and making announcements. There are many methods, legal, half legal and illegal. All of them could be used provided after the conclusion you seek God forgiveness,” Mr Nape says in the video clip.
“Those who want to compete (Mr Byabato) Bukoba Urban Member of Parliament should get well prepared and God will forgive us. I should now promise you Kashai residents for this multitude, me and you will fight for the Sh300 million for the market to be constructed,” Mr Nnauye says in the video clip.
The statement has polarized opinion both within the ruling party and beyond with commentators questioning the minister’s commitment to democracy and principles of good governance.
This is not the first time that Nnape has attracted headlines with such statements, towards the 2015 he made the ‘Goli la Mkono’ jibe saying CCM was ready to win even if it meant through underhand methods.
However, he now says that the video and his comments were taken out of context and that this statement was made in jest.
"I believe in free and fair elections," Nnauye wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
CCM’s Secretary for Ideology, Publicity, and Training, Amos Makalla, countered the statement on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, saying that it does not reflect the party’s stance.
"There is a leader I heard on social media saying that election victory is not determined by the votes in the ballot box. I want to tell him that statement should not be viewed as his own and not that of CCM."
