Tanzania 2020 Elections: 7 key pieces of information you need to know
RegionWeek Newsletter Vol III, Issue #133 | Saturday, October 17, 2020
This is a new version of the RegionWeek Newsletter for the 3rd season( July-December 2020). The content targets Business leaders, Decision-makers, and Young professionals with interests in Burundi and East Africa. Subscribe to stay productive, and competitive in a pandemic and disrupted season.
Dear Readers,
This Friday, October 16th, 2020 the East African Community announced that it is deploying its Election Observer mission to the Tanzanian General Elections slated for 28th October 2020. The Mission is led by His Excellency Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, the former President of the Republic of Burundi, and it will deploy in various regions of the country including Zanzibar, after the briefing session in Dar es Salaam.
In today’s edition, we will us explore how the Tanzania electoral process is so far and what kind of outcomes to expect but first, a short background on Tanzania’s Multiparty system :
The United Republic of Tanzania Comprises Tanzania Mainland (formerly known as Tanganyika) and Tanzania Zanzibar. Before the attainment of Tanganyika Independence in 1961 and prior to the Revolution of Zanzibar in 1964, the Political System was Multiparty. After the Independence of Tanganyika and Revolution in Zanzibar, the United Republic of Tanzania adopted a Single-party Political Party System and the country was under the rule of one party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Following the re-introduction of the Multi-party System in Tanzania in 1992, the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 was accordingly amended to cater to the same. The Political Parties Act of 1992 was thereafter enacted to regulate the formation and registration of Political Parties.
1.Tanzania Electoral System
Tanzania has a First – Past – the – Post electoral system. This means that a candidate who wins the majority of valid votes is declared a winner. Also, there is a form of Proportional Representation System whereby Parliamentary Women Special Seats are allocated to Political Parties depending on the number of valid votes each Political Party won in Parliamentary Election. The Electoral Process is dived into 9 steps:
Demarcation of Constituencies,
Registration of Voters,
Update of the Permanent National Voters’ Register (PNVR),
Nomination of Candidates,
Election Campaign, Voting,
Counting of Votes,
Addition of Votes,
Declaration of Election Results,
Nomination of Women Candidates for Women Special Seats.
2.The Electoral Commission
The National Electoral Commission (NEC), now headed by Chairman Judge Semistocles Kaijage, consists of seven members who are appointed by the President. The Commissioners enjoy the security of tenure of office and can only be removed from office by the President for failure to discharge their functions either due to illness or misconduct. The autonomy of the Commission is expressly guaranteed in the Constitution. No court can question a decision of the Commission that was legally made. This ensures that the Commission performs its mandate without intimidation or fear of litigation.
3.Key candidates in 2020 general elections
President John Magufuli is seeking re-election after being chosen as the candidate of the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
On the opposite side, there are Chadema, the main opposition party has Deputy Chairman Tundu Lissu who returned recently from exile in Belgium after being shot outside his home in 2017. And former Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe who switched allegiance from CCM to the opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo), was nominated to run against Magufuli.
As reported by Aljazeera, in a bid to unseat the governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, these two leading opposition parties have decided to form what has been dubbed a “loose” collaboration and endorse a common candidate for the October 28 polls in each region. Hamad, national chairman of ACT-Wazalendo, said his party would support Chadema’s Tundu Lissu in the mainland to challenge President John Magufuli. CHADEMA said it would withdraw its presidential candidate in Zanzibar and back Seif Sharif Hamad, of the ACT-Wazalendo party, against the CCM’s Hussein Mwinyi.
4.Campaign Promises
The election commission announced that the campaign would run from August 26 to October 27. President John Magufuli has pledged to improve the economy and complete unfinished projects during a speech that marked the launch of his re-election campaign. Some of the new initiatives include the purchase of five new planes for the national airline, the creation of jobs for eight million people, and increasing tourism earnings.
In his campaign, Magufuli mentions the flagship projects he championed in the past five years among which the construction of standard gauge railway and the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project that will produce 2,115 megawatts bringing the energy access from 35 percent to 85 percent. He reminds the increase in the number of students joining the university and who benefit from study loans from 98,300 in 2015 to 130,885 in 2020.
For the opposition side, the CHADEMA presidential candidate Tundu Lissu pledges that, if elected, his administration would radically reform the country's criminal system by ensuring that all offenses are bailable. Mr. Lissu said he will improve the quality of health care noting that high taxes that have been imposed on medical equipment and health care, are making the cost of treatment in the country unaffordable.
ACT Wazalendo party pledges to speed up rural electrification by continuing to “supply electricity faster, especially in rural areas”, along with reducing electricity costs and connecting all regions and districts to the national grid. ACT’s manifesto proposes a radical approach that will seek to transfer State-Owned Entreprises ownership from the state to the citizens.
ACT promises that up to 51% of the shares of major state-owned companies and other companies in which the state owns shares will be sold to Tanzanians to enable citizens to participate directly in owning their own economy. ACT also promises to restore and redistribute land to citizens who have lost their land in privatization deals involving state-owned companies and holding companies.
5.Voters
According to the NEC, about 29 million Tanzanians have registered to vote in this year's election, compared to some 23 million voters registered in 2015. Tanzania has a population of about 57 million. In past, elections have had a 66.04% average turnout. Tanzania’s electoral body announced it has set a total of 80,155 polling centers ahead of the October 28 general elections. With 79,670 out of the 80,155 polling centers in mainland Tanzania and 485 centers in Zanzibar. Each of the polling centers is set to cater to less than 500 voters.
6.Elections Financing
With a budget of 331 billion Tanzanian shillings (approximately $142 million or €119 million), Tanzania is paying for this election from its coffers instead of seeking foreign aid. In 2000 public funding of political parties ceased wholly on the grounds that the state could not afford it. Subsequent to the abolition of public funding, a system of funding political parties (as well as other civil society bodies) through a foreign donor basket was implemented, with funds coming from European countries and Canada.
The Election Expenses Act of 2010 requires that all donations from individuals over one million shillings and donations from organizations over two million shillings be disclosed to the Registrar of Political Parties within 30 days of receipt.
7.Human Rights
International Human rights organizations has in recent months release reports on shrinking civic and democratic space, information manipulation, and restriction of freedom of expression, association, and assembly in Tanzania. According to Human Rights Watch, Newspapers have been shut down, journalists are being harassed and arrested, the opposition is being persecuted and arrested and the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been severely restricted.
The bottom line
According to Thabit Jacob, a research fellow at Roskilde University in Denmark who studies politics and extractive industries in African states quoted by World Politics Review, Magufuli portrays support for his economic agenda as a key part of Tanzania’s national identity. “Anyone who is critical of his resource nationalism approach is seen as anti-state [and] not patriotic enough,” adds Jacob
The president, although criticized over repressive measures, has won some support for his much-publicized fight against corruption, though some in the opposition question its effectiveness. Magufuli also celebrated when last July the World Bank reclassified Tanzania upward as a lower-middle-income country.
Many experts and analysts converge to say that Magufuli is likely to be reelected regardless of the 2015 election scenario where the CHADEMA candidate, Edward Lowassa, came close enough to defeating the CCM candidate, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli.
“There is just no way the Opposition can defeat CCM at this year's Presidential election,” - Pius Msekwa
Columnist Pius Msekwa explains that the Opposition's exceptional 2015 electoral performance, was certainly not based on their own inherent electoral strength. It was based rather on the personal electoral appeal of their then Presidential candidate, Edward Lowassa. Now that the said Edward Lowassa is no longer with the Opposition camp; having wisely 'returned home' to CCM soon after having failed to achieve his personal ambition of winning the Presidency.
Thanks for reading
Fabrice Iranzi, RegionWeek.com
Support RegionWeek Newsletter!
Contribute at least $5/Month, and join our amazing community of supporters!
RegionWeek is a Burundi-based media for a new generation of achievers in Africa, a platform devoted to chronicling the journey to Freedom and Empowerment.