By Daniel Itai.
(News of The South)+ – At least 539 953 people have submitted electoral forms seeking to be nominated as candidates for leadership positions in Tanzania’s municipal elections which are expected to be conducted on November 24.
19.7 million people have since registered to vote for their desired municipal leaders in Tanzania’s 31 municipalities. However, Tanzania’s main opposition party Chadema said that some of its members had been disqualified by electoral officials from running in the municipal elections.
Chadema further said that the registration offices closed when they tried to apply and also discovered that their applications had been tampered with.
Furthermore, police have broken up opposition gatherings and shut down Chadema meetings.
As a result of this, they were going to boycott the municipal elections.
“Our party believes it is wiser not to support such electoral cheating. To continue to participate in elections of this kind is to legitimise illegality,” said Chadema president, Freeman Mbowe.
Mbowe also added that their activists have been kidnapped and beaten, with several disappearing and turning up murdered.
The minister of State in the President’s office Mr. Selemani Jafo said, “we have learned via the media that some political parties have decided to boycott the civic polls scheduled for November 24, but we will not cancel the elections.”
Four opposition parties namely, Chadema, ACT-Wazalendo, Chaumma and CCK, have already announced that they will not participate in the elections.
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