Little hope of free and fair polls in Tanzania as state tightens grip

The ruling party, which wants a seventh consecutive victory in the national elections, is doing everything in its power to exclude the opposition from running campaigns, including using violence.

- By Nicodemus Minde

Tanzania is approaching its October general elections with uncertainty.

The main opposition party, Chadema, has been disqualified from running and the ruling CCM is manoeuvring to claim its seventh consecutive term.

Chadema chairperson Tundu Lissu is in custody on treason charges owing to his party’s demands for electoral reforms. The “no reforms, no elections” campaign has been interpreted by the courts as an attempt to disrupt the polls. Lissu has also been charged with incitement and publishing false information. The treason charges don’t allow bail and they carry the death penalty.

Tanzania has had six elections since multiparty democracy was introduced in 1995. The CCM has won them all, making it one of Africa's longest-ruling independent parties. Much of this electoral dominance has resulted from exclusion, censorship, electoral fraud and violence against the opposition.

Tanzania is sliding into electoral authoritarianism — a system in which polls are held, but within a manipulated process where the ruling party retains power through state control, patronage, violence, intimidation and the manipulation of electoral systems.

Since 2016, think-tank Freedom House has categorised Tanzania as “partly free” because its defective or flawed electoral democracy lacked robust civil liberties and political rights. This year, the country moved to the “not free” category, signalling an authoritarian turn as political freedoms and rights declined.