Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
President Samia Urges INEC to Ensure Fair 2025 Vote, Warns Against Internal and External Plots to Disrupt Peace
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has urged the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to ensure fairness in the upcoming General Election on October 29, 2025, stating that doing so is of great importance to the nation, as “where there is fairness, there is grace.”
The Head of State made the call on August 24, 2025, in Dar es Salaam, while addressing a Peace Conference ahead of the 2025 General Election. The conference was organised by the Union of Tanzanian Imams and took place at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in the city.
“Grace abounds and blessings descend, and society prospers when the word ‘justice’ is held in high esteem,” said President Samia. “On behalf of all Tanzanians, our message to the Electoral Commission is: stand firm and ensure justice.”
INEC has already announced the schedule for the collection and return of nomination forms, which will run from August 14, 2025, to August 27 for the selection of councillors, members of parliament, and the president.
The campaign period will begin on August 28 and continue until October 28. The nationwide vote will be held on October 29, 2025, except for Zanzibar, where its two-day voting process means the exercise will begin there on October 28.
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Tanzania’s INEC Faces Integrity Questions Amid Contradictions on Voter Data Integration
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) continues to face the challenging task of defending its integrity after new allegations were raised regarding the integration of the voter registration system with the national identity system, commonly referred to as NIDA and the ruling party systems.
The allegation is that this integration ensures that even if a person does not register to vote or does not show up on election day, but has a NIDA number, and the system recognises them, then they will be considered as having registered to vote and as having voted.
These allegations, which have continued to dominate discussions on various social media platforms, were first raised on August 22, 2025, by a former senior leader of the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) who has since become a major critic of the ruling party, Humphrey Polepole.
Speaking during one of his virtual meetings with Tanzanians, Polepole, who resigned as Tanzania’s Ambassador to Cuba on July 13, 2025, before being stripped of that title by President Samia Suluhu Hassan on August 5, 2025, stated that CCM built these systems to guarantee itself victory in the elections even before the votes are cast.
“It is the systems that we built within the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), where, if you look at them even before we go to the elections, you see the votes are already there,” said Polepole, who served as CCM’s Ideology and Publicity Secretary from 2016 to 2021.
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Othman Masoud Othman Vows to Fix Zanzibar’s Governance Issues, Denies ACT Wazalendo is CCM’s ‘Special Project’
The presidential candidate for Zanzibar in the October 2025 General Election through the opposition party ACT Wazalendo, Othman Masoud Othman, has outlined some of the challenges that will be a priority for the government he will lead, if he receives that mandate from the citizens.
Speaking to editors from various media outlets today, Saturday, August 23, 2025, here in the city, Othman, who is also the national chairperson of the opposition party, stated that Zanzibar needs significant systemic reforms that will enable it to benefit from the potential it holds as an island nation.
“Among these issues, we believe that Zanzibar needs a better constitutional system, internally within Zanzibar and also in its relations within the Union of the United Republic of Tanzania,” said Othman, who doubles as the First Vice President of the ruling Government of National Unity (GNU) of Zanzibar.
He also argues that Zanzibar requires comprehensive reforms, primarily in good governance and broad-based empowerment, encompassing economic, educational, land, and public sector issues.
“We are very confident that we have the answers to all these issues, and we believe that once we implement these solutions, Zanzibar will benefit from the great potential it has,” said Mr Othman during his briefing with the editors.
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CCM Nominates Parliamentary Candidates, Appoints Asha-Rose Migiro as New Secretary-General
Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) on Saturday concluded the process of selecting its candidates for parliamentary seats in the upcoming October 2025 General Election.
The exercise was accompanied by a reorganisation of its leadership within the party in what appears to be a strategic positioning for the once-every-five-years event.
The ruling party in Tanzania selected a total of 219 candidates for constituencies and 69 candidates for Special Seats on the mainland Tanzania side. Similar selection has been conducted for all constituencies in Zanzibar for the same positions.
The list excluded at least 20 members of the previous parliament, including former Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu, even though they had won the delegates’ vote in the primaries.
Among those selected are former members of CHADEMA and Special Seat parliamentarians from the opposition party who defected to CCM.
These include Ester Amos Bulaya, who has been nominated to contest the Bunda Urban constituency, and Esther Matiko, who has been nominated to contest the Tarime Urban constituency.
Others include Jesca Kishoa, who has been nominated to contest Iramba East, Kunti Majala (Chemba), and Hawa Mwaifunga (Tabora Urban).
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Eyewitness Recounts the Abduction of Geita-Based Christian Preacher Who Gained Popularity for His Political Songs: Three Men in a White Land Cruiser Involved
In Geita, Elisha Juma is known as a preacher and singer who conducts services in the city and travels to remote areas for evangelism. However, to many people online, Elisha has become popular for his activist songs supporting CHADEMA’s No Reform, No Election campaign, denouncing abductions, and addressing other social issues.
One of his most trended song is the one against October we tick the box campaign, where he sings a chorus saying only fools will ‘tick the box’ in October.
On August 19, 2025, three men in a white Land Cruiser abducted him from the studio where he usually records. One eyewitness described to The Chanzo how the incident unfolded.
“He was taken at around 4 p.m. We were at the studio and a light-skinned guy, aged about 20 years, came in asking for Hip Hop beats. But I told him, ‘I’m now recording traditional songs; for Hip Hop beats, he will have to wait,” explained the witness, Masanja Charles who is the owner of MAS Studio in Bulangwa, Geita.
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Op-Ed; Saving Mothers and Babies: Tanzania Leads with AI and Care at Health Summit
This October, Dar es Salaam will host the 12th Annual Tanzania Health Summit, bringing together over 2,000 health leaders from over 20 countries. What began as a national platform is now shaping regional policy, drawing global institutions like the WHO, the Africa CDC, and AfDB. The conversations will centre on one theme: how data and technology can transform health systems across Africa.
For Tanzania, the timing is perfect. The country has been quietly proving that digital innovation is not just a theory but a life-saving reality. Now, its story—of mothers surviving childbirth and newborns given a fighting chance—is capturing continental attention.
One striking example comes from maternal care. By digitising every prenatal visit, Tanzania built a powerful dataset now fueling AI models that predict hypertensive disorders with remarkable accuracy. For women in remote clinics, this means nurses with tablets can catch warning signs long before a crisis unfolds.
As Dr Omary Chillo, Summit President, explains, “Data is the foundation, and technology is the tool.” His words reflect a shift from reactive care to prevention, where danger is spotted early, and lives are spared. For many health workers, this is the difference between helplessness and hope.
The impact is not abstract. “We’re not just counting the dead—we’re saving the living,” says Dr Sunday Dominic of the Ministry of Health. It’s a powerful reminder that behind every data point is a woman, a family, a future that now survives because systems are working.
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