Seven days of campaigning for November 27, 2024, local government elections closed Tuesday as candidates looking to serve their respective villages, sub-villages and streets as chairpersons led campaigns characterised by low turnout as well as irregularities, including the interference of law enforcement authorities in the process.
Tanzanians in the Mainland will vote on Wednesday for street, village, and sub-village chairpersons and members of their respective consultative councils in elections that aim to transfer power to the people.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has already designated the day as a public holiday to allow as many people as possible to participate in the elections, which has been preceded by massive disqualifications of opposition candidates over what affected candidates describe as “baseless grounds.”
According to government figures, 12,280 villages, 4,264 streets, and 63,886 sub-villages across Tanzania Mainland will participate in the exercise. Candidates and political parties they represent had seven days of campaigning and selling their manifestos to electorates. Tanzania doesn’t allow independent candidates.
The Chanzo, through its journalists in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Mbeya, followed the campaign period closely and noted several issues of concern.
Dominating parties
One issue that was most visible throughout the campaigning period was the domination of the process by just three political parties, the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and opposition CHADEMA and ACT-Wazalendo parties. This was so despite Tanzania having nineteen political parties with permanent registration.
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While other parties like the Civic United Front (CUF), CHAUMA, and AFP were present, their presence was barely visible, a situation some of the parties associated with funding issues. This will most likely raise some questions among observers of Tanzania’s democratic trajectory.
One question will be what this development implies for a country that identifies as a multiparty democracy when only a few political parties with permanent registration can effectively participate in elections.
Another question may be: If these parties couldn’t effectively participate in local government elections due to financial constraints, how can their participation in the 2025 general elections be guaranteed, and what will that mean in giving electorates sound options at the ballot box?
Election manifestos
Our observation found that among the political parties participating in the local government elections, only two—CCM and ACT–Wazalendo—developed an election manifesto that they sold to the electorates.
Other parties participating in the election didn’t give reasons why they didn’t have a manifesto, except CHADEMA, which said that it couldn’t develop a single election manifesto because the country is so large and priorities differ from place to place.
The party allowed its local offices across the country to develop manifestos responding to context-specific local issues and concerns.
Election manifestos are crucial in elections as they allow electorates to have a reference point from which they can hold their elected officials accountable once they are in office.
If political parties put their campaign pledges in writing, it means it is very hard to deny they have made a particular promise. This, in turn, will give an electorate a force to call for accountability.
This shortcoming notwithstanding, many candidates were informed about the needs of their respective local areas, and everyone pledged to resolve them for the overall betterment of the local population.
Issues ranged from proper waste management and neighbourhood security to challenges associated with infrastructure, including sewage systems, to the abuse of local government stamps and bribery allegations.
Candidates also raised the issue of ten per cent local government loans, with many of them pledging to help organise women, youth, and people with disabilities so that they can secure the loans to start small businesses and empower themselves economically.
Arrests and harassment
Law enforcement authorities in Tanzania, especially the Police Force, play a very key but controversial role in the country’s democratic processes, including elections, and this local government election was no exception.
For example, on November 20, police prevented ACT-Wazalendo party leader Dorothy Semu from holding a campaign rally at Magoza village, Kiparang’anda ward, Mkuranga district, where she had gone to campaign for the party’s candidate in the village. Police gave no reason for their decision.
On November 22, police blocked CHADEMA from holding a campaign rally in Mlowo, Songwe, for allegedly violating the agreed campaign timetable. During the fracas, police arrested the party’s national chairperson, Freeman Mbowe, alongside other party leaders. Police detained them for hours before they released them with no explanation.
Police also detain without explanation Mdude Nyagali, an activist and CHADEMA member, who was arrested alongside Mr Mbowe and other party leaders. Mr Nyagali’s lawyers said Tuesday that they plan to file a habeas corpus to force police to release their client.
On November 26, 2024, ACT-Wazalendo reported that police in Geita are holding two of its leaders in the region, Paulo Matayo and Staifodi Mwesigwa, after they were allegedly abducted on November 25. The party also reported the arrest of its official in Tunduru, Mohammed Kapopo, for allegedly issuing seditious remarks.
However, police weren’t the only actors responsible for harassment in these campaigns, as party officials also tried to prevent journalists from doing their jobs. This, for example, occurred to our Dodoma-based journalist, Jackline Kuwanda.
On November 22, 2024, Jackline was about to cover a CCM campaign rally in the Kilimani area of the city when the ruling party officials attempted to prevent her from recording it without special permission. She was eventually allowed to do her job when she and her colleagues threatened to escalate the matter to senior party officials.
Low turnout
The campaigns for local government elections also displayed a notable lack of enthusiasm and excitement among the electorates, with many campaign rallies registering a very low turnout of rallygoers.
In the public rallies we attended, the number of citizens showing up to listen to candidates was notably low. The venues and areas where these campaigns were held seemed dominated by party leaders, party members, and the candidates’ mobilisation teams.
In the areas and venues where campaign rallies took place, nearby residents and businesspeople often focused on their activities rather than listening to what the candidates had to say.
The low turnout at campaign meetings may reflect a broader pattern of public disengagement from this election. This was also evident during the voter registration, where many registration centres appeared empty.
Despite this, the government later announced that 31,282,331 Tanzanians had registered to vote in the 2024 local government elections, representing 94.83 per cent of the target of 32,987,579 registered voters.
These figures sparked significant debate, with many questioning their accuracy based on the visibly low turnout observed at registration centres across various areas.
Polls will open on Wednesday from 8:00 am to 4 pm for registered voters to go and cast their votes for their favourite local government officials. This opportunity will only come again after the lapse of five years. Police have said they’ll enhance security to ensure the exercise occurs peacefully and orderly.
Compiled by Matonyinga Makaro, Jackline Kuwanda and Modesta Mwambene from Mwanza, Dodoma and Mbeya, respectively, and edited by Lukelo Francis from Dar es Salaam.
