NEWLY-elected
Dar es Salaam City Mayor Issaya Chacha Charles of Chama Cha Demokrasia
na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) is lifted by his supporters after he was
announced winner, having collected 84 votes against his CCM opponent, Mr
Yusuf Yenga, who garnered 67 votes. The election was held at the
Karimjee Hall in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. (Photo by Robert Okanda)
THE Karimjee Hall in Dar es Salaam was a hive of activity as councillors and MPs thronged the grounds of the historical building to witness the election of Dar es Salaam mayor that saw the opposition clinching victory for the first time since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992.
Mr Issaya Mwita from CHADEMA won the
mayoral seat after garnering 84 votes against his closest challenger, Mr
Yusuph Yenga of CCM, who got 67 votes. The election in the country’s
commercial capital and caretaker seat of government came after days of
drama and delays that had prompted angry reactions from voters.
Announcing the results, Acting Dar es
Salaam City Director Sarah Yohana said there were 158 total votes cast,
out of which 151 were valid votes while seven were spoilt.
She later declared Mr Mwita, Vijibweni
Ward Councillor, the new Dar es Salaam Mayor, replacing Dr Didas
Masaburi from CCM, who vied for Ubungo Parliamentary seat in last year’s
general election.
He lost the seat to Mr Saidi Kubenea of
CHADEMA. Immediately after he was declared a winner, jubilation engulfed
the Karimjee Hall with opposition councillors and legislators booing at
the top of their voices.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Mwita
pledged to work on problems bedevilling Dar es Salaam residents,
including lack of desks in primary schools.
“It does not make sense when you have a
city council that contributes 79 per cent of the country’s GDP while
pupils in schools are still sitting on stones,’’ he said. Outside the
gate, opposition supporters danced to celebrate the victory.
Some roads were blocked for some minutes
as opposition members kept on chanting their slogans to express their
jubilation. Prior to voting exercise yesterday, security was beefed up
at the polling venue.
Police had a daunting task of
controlling supporters of the opposition coalition, UKAWA, who arrived
at Karimjee Grounds in big numbers as they tried to force their way into
the hall in vain.
The law enforcers cordoned off the gate
outside Karimjee Hall to prevent unauthorised people from entering the
grounds to ensure peaceful polls. However, it was not an easy task for
police officers ? mainly from the Field Force Unit (FFU) as errant
opposition supporters kept on chanting their parties’ slogans and
demanding that they be allowed to witness the exercise.
At some point, police used a carload of
pepper spray to threaten and disperse the angry supporters. Former Prime
Minister and UKAWA presidential candidate in last year’s general
election, Mr Edward Lowassa, also arrived at the Karimjee Hall to
witness the exercise.
Police officers and Mr Lowassa’s
security detail were forced to do an extra job to clear the space at the
gate to allow him to go inside.
The mayoral poll was earlier scheduled
for last month but it was postponed three times as CCM and the
opposition parties locked horns; with the former moving to the corridors
of justice to seek separate injunctions to block the election
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