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Dar es Salaam – It has emerged that the Kenyan Human Rights Commission, in collaboration with civil society organizations (CSOs) from Tanzania, the Eastern and Southern Africa region will oversee the October general elections in Tanzania almost virtually.
The team overseeing the elections includes prominent judges from Kenya and Uganda who formed the Tanzania Election Watch panel. It is an alternative independent oversight body that includes leading pan-Africanists, human rights defenders, and media professionals.
According to a report by the Kenyan newspaper The Standard, the appointed team members include former Kenyan Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and the chairman of Uganda’s Constitutional Review Commission, Professor Fredrick Ssempebwa.
Others are Dr. Miria Matembe, Professor Chaloka Beyani, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, David Makali, Dan Wandera Ogalo, Uganda High Court Judge Lady Justice Lydia Mugambe, Professor Frederick Jjuuko, Betty Murungi, Alice Mugwe and Zein Abubakar .
However, as of yesterday, the Director of Elections of the National Electoral Commission of Tanzania (NEC), Wilson Charles, said that although several international observers have been invited to monitor this year’s elections, his office was not sure whether the panel formed was among the accredited institutions.
“I am attending a meeting, so it is difficult to remember if they are among those approved. I will be in a position to comment after I have read the details of the panel,” he told The Citizen by phone. As of press time, the director had not confirmed the details of the panel to The Citizen.
The electoral body’s website did not have the name or country of the international observers authorized to monitor this year’s general elections.
But opening the panel last Thursday, Professor Ssempebwa said the team has no interest in taking sides in the polls, but called for respect for human rights, freedom of expression, movement and assembly.
Professor Ssempebwa, who chairs the panel, said that economic integration makes the Tanzanian elections a topic of great interest and critical to anchoring peace, tranquility and justice in the region. The panel will monitor the organization and preparations for the elections through field survey monitors without necessarily traveling to the country due to what it called “political difficulties.”
In June this year, the NEC announced the names of 245 CSOs that will provide voter education, as well as another 97 approved to serve as local election observers.
The election sparked a lot of debate among politicians and political commentators, especially after the exclusion of key, resourceful and experienced CSOs, including the Tanzanian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, the Human Rights and Legal Center, and the Constitution Forum. from Tanzania.
Furthermore, CSO leaders told The Citizen claiming that they were excluded due to the authorities’ fear of their ability to objectively and independently monitor electoral processes in the country and beyond. However, NEC responded to the criticism by saying that they only chose those organizations that met the established criteria.
Human rights groups have accused the Tanzanian authorities of restricting freedoms and cracking down on political dissidents.
These include the suffocation of independent journalists and the severe restriction of NGO activities, accusations denied by the government.
But a Tanzanian journalist living outside the country, Ansbert Ngurumo, said there was no hope for free and fair elections this year.
“For the first time in history, there will be no international election observers in Tanzania,” he said.
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This will be the sixth general election since the introduction of multi-party politics in Tanzania in 1992.
Regional experts argue that the October 28 elections would likely be a two-horse race between political enemies, incumbent John Magufuli and Chadema’s Tundu Lissu.
Both Magufuli and Lissu have expressed their optimism to be victorious in an election that comes at a very critical moment when the world and the region are battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tanzania operates in a democracy that has seen presidents come and go, with Dr. Magufuli promising to organize free, fair and credible elections.
On October 28 this year, Tanzanians from all walks of life will elect the President of the United Republic, the President of Zanzibar, members of the House of Representatives and local officials from both mainland Tanzania and the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar.
