Opposition leaders in Tanzania have accused authorities of stuffing ballot boxes to ensure victory for the ruling party in simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections.
Despite sporadic violence in the run-up to the poll, tens
of millions of people filed into polling stations without incident on Wednesday
to cast their votes.
Zitto Kabwe, the leader of the opposition Alliance for
Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), said there were reports of fraud from
constituencies across Tanzania, and party workers had found thousands of ballot
papers and large numbers of returning officers’ statements of results that
appeared to have been filled in before the vote. One bag was seized when it
fell off a lorry.
a group of people standing in front of a crowd: Queues to
vote in Zanzibar, Tanzania, on Wednesday. © Photograph: AP Queues to vote in
Zanzibar, Tanzania, on Wednesday.
“It was not an election, and the people of Tanzania will
pay the price. The international community should not recognise this election
or the legitimacy of the government,” Kabwe told the Guardian.
Tundu Lissu, the principal opposition candidate, issued a
statement alleging “widespread irregularities in the form of preventing our
polling agents from accessing polling stations” and “stuffed ballot boxes
seized” in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital. “If this continues, mass
democratic action will be the only option to protect the integrity of the
election,” Lissu said.
John Magufuli, one of Africa’s most controversial leaders,
is seeking a second term as president. His brand of populist politics and
promises of economic development have gained him a solid support base,
especially in Tanzania’s vast rural areas. But the 60-year-old has been accused
of mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic and repression of dissent.
International campaign groups have raised concerns about
media freedoms in Tanzania. Twitter reported that it had seen “some blocking
and throttling” of its service before the election. “Internet shutdowns are
hugely harmful and violate basic human rights,” the company said.
There were also reports of disruption to WhatsApp,
Instagram and Google, and efforts to block the use of VPN services too.
The government has denied clamping down on critics, and its
spokesman Hassan Abbasi said the elections were held under the supervision of
the national electoral commission (NEC), which is supposed to be impartial.
The opposition claims the NEC has systematically supported
Magafuli and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party (CCM), which is sub-Saharan
Africa’s longest-ruling party, by disqualifying its candidates or ordering them
to pause campaigning.
At least nine people were reported to have been shot dead
by police in semi-autonomous Zanzibar on the eve of the polls.
There are fears that Magafuli will win sufficient support
in parliamentary elections on the mainland and in Zanzibar to allow the
two-term limit to be lifted, raising the possibility of him remaining in power
for decades. Guardian
0 comments:
Post a Comment