In early February 2024 the Tanzanian parliament made sweeping electoral reforms by passing three bills governing elections and political parties in Tanzania. If ascended and signed by the President into law, these reforms usher a new political era in Tanzania’s electoral history. However, one major leap to the front remains to cement Tanzania’s political landscape and electoral democracy for the better. Simply put the new reforms are a one step to the right or left but a higher jump is required.

The three bills passed are; The National Election Commission Act 2023, Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Bill (2023), The Political Parties Affairs Laws (Amendment) Bill (Amending the Political Parties Act RE 2019 and the Elections Expenses Act, 2010). Among the reforms passed under these bills include;

# Introduces a new and separate law governing the National Electoral Commission. Previously this was covered under the National Elections Act, which seems to be overhauled by the new law.

#  Changing the name of the electoral body from the National Electoral Commission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).  The spirit of this is to rebrand the National Electoral Commission as a modern independent electoral management institution, capable of delivering on its mandate with minimal potential interference from the executive

# Changes to the selection process of the commissioners via a competitive hiring process presided over by a competent independent selection panel chaired by the Chief Justice of Tanzania Mainland and Chief Justice of Zanzibar as its Vice Chairperson. Previously these were solely appointed by the President.

# Introduces procedure for people to apply for positions at the electoral body.  Under the new proposed law, the position for Director of Elections will be open for all competent citizens to apply and subjected to an interview process whereafter three names will be proposed to the President for appointment. The purpose of this amendment is to detach the electoral commission from the direct ambits of the sitting President, who could also be a running candidate in an election process.

# Amendment of the law to remove a mandatory requirement for City Directors, Municipal Directors, Town Directors, District Executive Director (DED) to serve as returning officer at the district level. Under the new law, any competent officer or person can be appointed or assigned to preside over elections as a returning officer. The purpose was to address the long outcry over potential conflict of interest and lack of separation of the executive from the electoral processes. This matter had been a subject of litigation in courts but without success.

# The removal of automatic declaration of unopposed candidates as winners of an election. The new law requires that even unopposed candidates will still be subjected to a vote. If the number of opposed votes and more than in favour, the candidate cannot be declared the winner. The purpose of this was to avoid political favoritism, political intimidation or buying off of political opponents, and imposition of certain candidates on voters who may not be necessarily the best or favorite candidate for the voters.

By initiating and allowing this process to continue unhindered, President Samia Suluhu Hassan proved that she is a democrat par excellence.  President Samia demonstrated mastery of the political landscape and that she was committed to setting Tanzania on a trajectory of political and electoral reforms at a pace and standard unprecedent before by any of her predecessors.

Perhaps serving as a Vice Chairperson of the previous Constituent Assembly in 2014 and listening to the divergent views, she was exposed to the political pitfalls that dogged her country and always remained endeared to the ideas for urgent political reforms.

Key gaps remaining

Running on this inertia, President Samia can take a key leap to the front by reviving the defunct full constitutional review process towards a writing and adoption of a new Tanzania constitution.

The previous attempt at writing a new constitution suffered a still birth.  After months of collecting citizens opinions and debates by the Constituent Assembly costing billions of shillings, the political gulags killed the process before it could deliver a new constitution. Without major changes, the current new reforms will be curtailed by the Constitution limitations that exist.

A comparative study of Electoral Management Bodies (EMB) conducted by the Governance and Economic Policy Center (GEPC) in 2020 showed that despite some progress, Tanzania failed or fared poorly in many areas and required a major overhaul.  (Read more: https://gepc.or.tz/2020-general-elections-key-electoral-reforms-tanzania-must-take/

When ranked on the common standards and guidelines for electoral management and regulation of political parties developed by the European Commission for Democracy, Tanzania scored unfavorably compared to its neighbors South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria on a number of major electoral management and dispute resolution in the following aspects.

  • Direct appointment of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Electoral Management Body with out subject to an independent public vetting process
  • Tanzania’s electoral management body had curtailed or restricted powers to organize only Presidential and parliamentary elections. The Minister for local government was responsible for organizing and coordinating local government and municipal elections. The Minister appointed returning officers.
  • The prerogative of finality of decisions made by NEC and Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) was a major lacuna in Tanzania’s electoral law compared to its neighbors. NEC and ZEC have the exclusive powers to announce Presidential and parliamentary election results. Announced Presidential elections are not subject to challenge in any court of law. This is viewed as an infringement on common standards of democratic practice, rule of law, natural justice and democratic rights to a fair hearing. The exercise of finality of decisions can also be confusing, especially where it concerns matters that can be of concern to both institutions. A case to remember was the ZEC Chairperson’s decision to annual the 2015 Presidential election.
  • Limitations on Independent Presidential candidature. The current constitution and election laws restrict this candidature to members belonging to a political party
  • Lack of clarity and potential clash in the roles of the Electoral Management Body (EMB) and the Office of Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) during election campaign period and civic education.

What it will take for reforms to succeed

For the new reforms to succeed, Tanzania needs to unpack the current constitution to ensure that its provisions are in synchrony with a new democratic dispensation.

The President will need to address the chronic single party mentality that exists amongst some political party cadres and state operatives.  Many of these are not tolerant to opposing political thought. They may not fully embrace the reforms let alone allow the INEC to function without impediments.  Guard rails must be set for what they can or cannot do  

Safe guarding of women in elections and political parties by ringfencing of women leadership positions in political parties. This must be followed by redesigning the concept of affirmative action by setting term limits for women serving in nominated positions in parliament and local governments as councilors for women and special seats.

Restriction on the use of national resources such as state media and the use national security forces and agencies to support a given political party or its candidates during elections.  This matter is considered sensitive but one that needs to be dealt with.

Moreover, our comparative analysis in 2020 showed that a mere change of name does not fully address electoral management, fairness, transparency, and dispute resolution.  Changes of the electoral body’s name from National Electoral Commission (NEC) to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must be followed by the political will and support to enable its independent functioning.

Experiences from Kenya show that changes in the name did not succeed in fully addressing the underlying crevasses and politically charged currents that faced the electoral body. Kenya’s Electoral commission still faces accusations of political bias and state capture. All presidential elections since 2017 have been subjected to dispute and court adjudication.  Its commissioners and executives face electoral violence, persecution and accused of presiding over botched election results. Tragically, some have been killed while others live in exile because of election related persecution.

As Tanzanians and the political class celebrate these new reforms, we must always be reminded that this is temporary and more steps must be taken. Tanzania is yet to come a full circle as a democratic country. Tanzania has and can still set a new bar higher with a full constitutional review.