Police officers arrest a man during ongoing security operations prior to Tanzania's general elections, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania, 27 October 2020
Credit: ANTHONY SIAME/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock /EPA
Tanzania goes to the polls on Wednesday amid reports of massive state repression, internet censorship, the arrest of a top presidential candidate and the alleged deaths of five protestors.
John Magufuli, the country’s strongman president, is seeking a second five-year term in office in a vote which has been widely condemned by critics and international analysts.
The president is facing 14 candidates including Tundu Lissu, a prominent human rights lawyer and former MP who survived being shot by 16 times by unknown gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs in September 2017.
Mr Lissu, who leads the main opposition party Chadema, claims his would-be assassins were acting on orders of the president and claims a massive plot is underway to rig Wednesday’s elections.
Almost no international journalists have been granted accreditation to cover the election and Tanzania, a country once lauded for its tolerant political culture, has not let any election observers into the country.
Mr Magufuli, 60, nicknamed ‘the bulldozer’, has gained popularity for his nationalist rhetoric and uncompromising anti-corruption drive.
But over the last five years, he has led a major crackdown on civil society groups across the east African nation of 60m.
A police officer enforces pre-election laws during ongoing security operations prior to Tanzania's general elections, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania, 27 October 2020.
Credit: ANTHONY SIAME/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock /EPA
The government has taken the unprecedented decision to order major telecoms companies to block individual text messages containing the Mr Lissu’s name and the name of another key opposition leader in Zanzibar, Maalim Seif.
The UK telecoms giant Vodafone, which operates in the country under the name ‘Vodacom Tanzania’ and boasts more than 12m customers, is currently enforcing the government’s order.
A Vodafone spokesperson said "no comment" when asked if they thought the move targeting the opposition was acceptable.
“It is absolutely outrageous,” said Nic Cheeseman, an expert in African democracy at the University of Birmingham, reacting to Vodacom’s decision. “It comes back to this point that for authoritarian leaders to get their way, they need the complicity of multinational companies and the international community.”
Tanzania ruling party CCM Presidential Candidate President John Magufuli addresses Dodoma region elders at the climax of his election campaign on Tuesday. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020.
Credit: AP
On Tuesday, the Zanzibar Archipelago region went to the polls a day earlier than the mainland amid the heavy security presence and reports of tear gas and gunshots.
The semi-autonomous region has a separate president and parliament to the mainland. It is a hotbed of opposition and is also crucial to the ruling party’s political ambitions.
To change the country’s constitution to allow him to run for a third term in five years, Mr Magufuli needs a two-thirds majority in the region’s parliament.
Zanzibar’s ACT Wazalendo opposition party claim that five people were shot dead by police in Pemba Island on Monday night and that their candidate for the region’s presidential elections, Maalim Seif, was arrested by police on Tuesday morning.
Analysts and human rights campaigners have warned that more blood will be shed in the coming weeks, as the opposition will almost certainly take to the streets after Mr Magufuli’s probable reelection.
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