Thursday, October 29, 2015

D-Day for Tanzania Election Results
Thursday 29 October 2015 05:29
Sarah Kimani, Tanzania
SABC

Tanzania's National Electoral Commission will announce the results of presidential elections in Dar-Es-Salaam on Thursday.

This is despite a decision by Zanzibar's Electoral commission to annul Presidential and Parliamentary elections on the island amid accusations of cheating.

The opposition UKAWA coalition has called for a recount.

The ruling party candidate Dr. John Magufuli was on track to win the polls by late Wednesday despite complaints by the opposition that the vote tallying process had been tampered with.

The missions however raised concerns about some aspects of the process and the electoral laws that they said needed to be reviewed
Foreign observer missions including Southern African Development Community , the East African Community, the Commonwealth and the European Union on Tuesday declared the polls free and fair.

The missions however raised concerns about some aspects of the process and the electoral laws that they said needed to be reviewed.

With results from more than half of the 264 constituencies out, opposition candidate Edward Lowassa trails Magufuli  by more than 10%.

Meanwhile, the United States says it is gravely alarmed by the annulment of Zanzibar elections, arguing that the commission halted a peaceful election.  It wants the decision recalled.


Vote annulled on Tanzania's hotspot region of Zanzibar - official

Wednesday 28 October 2015 17:23
REUTERS

The election in Tanzania's semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar has been annulled due to abuses, the regional election commission said on Wednesday, forcing a fresh vote in the area that has long been a hotspot of opposition to the ruling party.

"I hereby officially announce that this election and all its results have been annulled and there is a need to hold fresh elections," Zanzibar Election Commission Chairman Jecha Salim Jecha said in a statement citing "gross violations".

An official from the opposition Civic United Front branded the move a ploy to rerun a vote it had won. There was no immediate comment from the ruling CCM party, but CCM officials had previously said it was on track to win on the island.

We demand that NEC should do a verification of the results and recount the votes
Opposition calls for recount of presidential vote

Earlier, Tanzanian presidential candidate and opposition leader Edward Lowassa called for a recount of Sunday's presidential poll, saying he would not accept the result because of voting irregularities.

"We want the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to immediately halt the announcement of results of the presidential election," Lowassa, who leads the Ukawa opposition coalition, told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

"We demand that NEC should do a verification of the results and recount the votes," he said.

The NEC had said it would announce the winner of the vote on Thursday, with preliminary results showing John Magufuli, candidate for the ruling CCM party, ahead of Lowassa.


Lowassa rejects presidential poll results

Wednesday 28 October 2015 14:14
Sarah Kimani
SABC

Presidential candidate Edward Lowassa has rejected the presidential poll results in Tanzania. Lowassa says the elections have been rigged.

He wants the electoral commission to stop the tallying process.

Meanwhile the ruling party has extended its lead. In elections held on Sunday, John Magufuli is contesting against opposition coalition candidate Lowassa in a heated election.

Despite reports of simmering tensions, police say the country remains calm. With every result announced so far the ruling party's presidential candidate has increased his lead. The latest tally shows a gap of about 400 000 votes with the main opposition candidate.

One hundred and twenty constituencies have been announced so far but with 144 to go, the picture could change. The opposition has accused police of raiding its tally centres, arresting its volunteers and hamstringing its independent results verification.

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