Dar es Salaam – Tanzania’s opposition presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina faces a fresh legal challenge to his candidacy, with the government and two rival political parties lodging formal objections just days after the High Court ordered his reinstatement for October’s general election.
The Attorney General, along with presidential candidates from the Alliance for African Farmers Party (AAFP) and the National Reconstruction Alliance (NRA), filed objections on September 14, claiming Mpina is ineligible to contest the presidency because he lacks proper political party sponsorship.
The objections centre on the same procedural irregularities that led to Mpina’s initial disqualification in August – allegations that his nomination by the ACT Wazalendo party violated internal party rules. Under Tanzanian electoral law, presidential candidates must be sponsored by a registered political party, with independent candidacies prohibited.
Mpina’s candidacy appeared secure following a landmark High Court ruling on September 11 that declared his disqualification unconstitutional. The court found that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had violated Mpina’s right to be heard and acted beyond its authority by following directives from the Registrar of Political Parties.
Following the court order, INEC formally nominated Mpina and his running mate, Fatma Abdulhabid Ferej, on September 13. However, the fresh objections now threaten to derail his presidential ambitions once again, just weeks before the October 29 election.
ACT Wazalendo has denounced the objections as “plots and deliberate schemes by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party and the government” designed to eliminate a popular challenger to incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
In response, the party’s legal team, led by Chief Counsel Omar Said Shaaban, is preparing detailed rebuttals to all three objections to be submitted within the legally mandated timeframe.
The party has also filed a separate constitutional case in the High Court challenging the Registrar of Political Parties’ decision, registered under certificate of urgency as case number 23438 of 2025.
ACT Wazalendo also announced plans to lodge its own objection against President Samia’s candidacy, alleging that the ruling CCM party violated its own constitution in nominating her.
The opposition party claims Samia “never took a form to apply for nomination as a candidate, was never sponsored by members, was never proposed by the CCM Central Committee.”
Similar complaints about CCM’s nomination procedures were previously raised by former party members Godfrey Malisa and Davidlevi Nestory Nkindikwa, though the Registrar of Political Parties declined to investigate the latter’s allegations whilst accepting complaints against Mpina’s nomination.
CCM maintains that President Samia’s nomination was constitutional, arguing that the party’s National Congress, which nominated her on January 19, 2025, possesses supreme authority within the party structure.
With formal campaigning already underway and polling scheduled for October 29, the legal challenges threaten to overshadow substantive political debate. Under electoral regulations, objections to presidential candidates must be filed within 24 hours of the nomination period’s conclusion.
The disputes come amid broader concerns about Tanzania’s democratic trajectory, with the main opposition party, CHADEMA, already being sidelined and its leader, Tundu Lissu, in jail facing treason charges.
