AN ALARMING SITUATION IN TANZANIA GENERAL ELECTIONS

Thursday, October 15, 2015  

Greetings

Kindly find the bellow comment from the official twitter account of CHADEMA Chairman, Hon Freeman Mbowe, about the alarming situation in this year Tanzania general elections, especially about the confusing data or exactly number of the eligible registered voters.

Mainly through the twitter post, this is the summary of what Hon. Mbowe said at campaign rallies today. The chairman is responding to President Jakaya Kikwete speech, asking him to tell the public, where the 28 mil do. Registered voters come from if a National Electoral Committee (NEC) had already said formally that through Biometric Voters Registration (BVR), 22.7 mil. People had been registered as eligible voters in the 25th October General Elections.

The Chairman Mbowe has tasked President Kikwete to explain where he gets the additional number of 6 mil people as registered voters.

In his speech to the national, live televised by the Public Broadcasting Tv and Radio, from the Capital City of Tanzania, Dodoma, today President Kikwete said that 28 mil people have been registered to vote in this year election.

The president's statement, as Hon. Mbowe argues in his comment, is not only controversial and against with what NEC said has in its database, but it might prove the allegations already raised earlier by CHADEMA, the main opposition party in Tanzania about the elements of the government dishonestly organizing the election so as to manufacture results in favour of CCM, the current ruling party, which President Kikwete is a chairperson.

However, through the comment, Hon. Mbowe wants the president to stop breaching laws of the land, especially the Election Act of 1984, section 104 with its amendments of 2010 which gives right to any person to be around, not within the radius of two hundred meters from the polling station, after voting.

That is why the results are displayed outside the polling stations for the citizens to see.

Furthermore, Hon. Mbowe stresses that, President Kikwete should stop from being hostile and intimidating the nation ahead of the polling day of this historical election.

Hon. Mbowe winds up the comment by insisting that, this historical election, should be FREE and FAIR.

So far the opposition coalition, UKAWA has been demanding to have the BVR database crosschecked so that every player in this elections be satisfied with the fine details of the registration process which resulted to the Permanent Voter Registration (PVR) so as it should be to the software system which would be used by NEC in collecting and tallying the results from constituencies..

On top of that, UKAWA has demanded the PVR be put open and given to the stakeholders to help them do the needed crosschecking of the registered voters.

Up to now NEC has not been able to meet even a single demand. This sends a serious alarm to any well-wisher of democracy, especially when it is reminded that our Supreme Law of the land doesn't give room for challenging the presidential election results, once the Chairperson of NEC has declared.