Political activists, and members and supporters of the opposition are being subjected to intensifying suppression by the ruling government of Tanzania ahead of the country’s presidential election today.
With advance voting now underway, the ACT-Wazalendo (Alliance for Change and Transparency) opposition party alleges that the police fatally shot at least seven citizens in Zanzibar and arrested the region’s presidential candidate, Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad, alongside over 100 civilians. Simultaneously, the party’s deputy secretary for human rights has accused the ruling party of distributing ballots that are “pre-marked”.
Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous archipelago and has its own president, who operates largely under the control of the government in the mainland. Hamad is running against the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi’s (CCM) Hussein Mwinyi, who is currently Tanzania’s Minister for Defense and National Security.
These acts of political intimidation have also been observed on the mainland. As far back as 2018, the President had already banned political opposition from organizing demonstrations, and those who defy or criticize this ban have been arrested.
For instance, center-right opposition party Chadema’s presidential candidate Tundu Lissu has been arrested multiple times and was shot 16 times in an attack in 2017. Lissu is an advocate of libertarianism and free-market principles, and has vowed to incentivized investment in Tanzania and boost the economy. He has promised “better relations with private business, including a taxpayer bill of rights, as well as greater respect for human rights and good governance”.
Chadema is currently in an opposition coalition with ACT. Although there are 15 candidates running for president, it is generally understood that incumbent President John Magufuli and Lissu stand the best chance of emerging victorious.
A conglomeration of 65 civil society groups from across the globe made a public plea to the Tanzanian authorities to ensure a free and fair election by putting an end to “systematic restrictions on political and civic freedoms”. The ruling government has restricted local and international observers from monitoring the election. Although the National Electoral Commission approved 145 NGOs and 97 other organizations to observe the election, it has curiously rescinded this provision to 100 other such organizations that have traditionally conducted election monitoring in Tanzania.
Magufuli has, however, received a vote of confidence from his predecessor Jakaya Kikiwete, lauding the incumbent leader for making Tanzania “less corrupt” and “more connected”. The incumbent president, for his part, has promised greater industrialization, improved access to drinking water, an expansion of domestic airports, and the establishment of oil pipeline projects. To his credit, since he entered office in 2015, inflation has decreased from 5.6% to 3.4%, and the economic growth for 2020 is forecasted at 5.5%, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, the World Bank has now classified Tanzania as a lower-middle-income country, five years ahead of Magufuli’s schedule. Magufuli’s Development Vision had originally sought to make Tanzania a “semi-industrialized, middle-income economy” by 2025. Consequently, it is now in the same group as Kenya. Tanzania’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita is now $1,080, up $60 from the previous year.
He has also signed a $3.5 billion crude oil pipeline project with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, which will connect the oil-rich Hoima region in Uganda with the Indian Ocean via Tanzania’s Tanga port. Roughly 80% of the pipeline is set to be in Tanzania, and Magufuli estimates that the deal will create 18,000 jobs.
Magufuli has also launched the development of a new railway line, a hydropower dam, and several new aircraft during his time in office.
However, he has been criticized for silencing political dissent. Since entering office five years ago, he has fast-tracked a legislation that now bans all forms of digital protests, whereby organizing, planning, or even supporting any form of demonstration on the internet has now been deemed illegal. The new legislation also places a ban on sharing information about any infectious disease outbreaks without government permission. In fact, the ban even extends to private message platforms such as WhatsApp. Simultaneously, restrictions on hate speech on the topics of sexuality and gender have now been removed.
He has also been lambasted for his approach to the coronavirus; limitations on discussions surrounding viral outbreaks is borne out of the government’s announcement in June that the country is “coronavirus-free”, despite authorities refusing to submit relevant records to document this to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In June, Magufuli declared, “We decided to pray to God to save us from the coronavirus (COVID-19). God has answered our prayers.” He added, “Our enemies will speak a lot, but the reality remains that Tanzania is safe and that is why none of us here is putting on a mask. Does it mean we are not afraid of dying? No, it is because coronavirus has been eliminated.”
However, the government stopped releasing any official data on the virus after April 29. At that time the country had registered 509 cases, and 21 deaths. However, due to the low levels of testing and minimal preparedness for a global pandemic, critics worry that the real situation is much worse than what the government is letting on.
Ahead of the presidential election, international actors have expressed their concern at the rapidly deteriorating human and political rights in Tanzania. For instance, US Ambassador to Tanzania Donald J. Wright released a statement saying, “I’m alarmed by reports from Zanzibar and elsewhere of violence, deaths and detentions,” adding, “It’s not too late to prevent more bloodshed! Security forces must show restraint.”
This concern was echoed by the United Nations, whose human rights office conveyed that it was “particularly alarmed by” reports of “shooting in Zanzibar”, saying, “We have been following with concern the shrinking of democratic space in the country, with worrying reports of intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrests and physical attacks against political opponents.”
Magufuli Administration Escalates Political Suppression Ahead of Presidential Election
A group of 65 civil society groups pleased with Tanzanian authorities to ensure a free and fair election by putting an end to “systematic restrictions on political and civic freedoms”.
October 28, 2020
Tanzanian President John Magufuli SOURCE: AP