A TOTAL of 83 parliamentary and councillorship candidates for Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar have been approved by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to vie for the anticipated January 23, 2017 elections.
In line with the approval, the
commission has granted permission for campaigns to begin as from
yesterday to January 21, next year.
Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam,
yesterday, the newly appointed NEC Chairman, Judge Semistocles Kaijage,
noted that there were 11 parliamentary candidates for Dimani
Constituency in Zanzibar and a further 72 candidates for councillorship
on the Mainland.
“The candidates for the councillorship
emanates from 13 political parties from 20 councils, consisting of 67
males and five females. All the 11 candidates contesting the
parliamentary seat in Dimani are men,” said Judge Kaijage.
Elections for Dimani constituency come
following the death of Mr Hafidh Ali Tahir of the Chama cha Mapinduzi
(CCM) who passed away last month at Dodoma General Hospital where he was
receiving medical treatment.
He named the candidates as Hamad Musa of
ACT Wazalendo, Issa Abdulkhadir (ADC), Juma Juma (CCM), Abdalah Khamis
(Chauma) and Abdulrazak Ramadhani of CUF.
The rest are Peter Magwira (DP), Ali
Abdalla (NRA) Amour Ali (SAU), Pandu Pandu (TLP), Abdulsamad Ali (UMD)
as well as Barik Omar from UPDP. The wards include Igomba and Ikweha in
Iringa, Magu and Tanga (Ruvuma), Kasansa (Katavi), Kijichi (Dar es
Salaam), Kiwanja cha Ndege (Morogoro), Misugusugu (Coast Region),
Mateves and Ngarenanyuki (Arusha), Lembeni (Kilimanjaro), Duru (Manyara)
and Ng’ambi and Ihumwa in Dodoma.
Others are Kinampundu (Singida), Malya
and Kahumulo (Mwanza), Isaghe (Shinyanga), Nkome (Geita) and Kimwani
(Kagera). Judge Kaijage said the approval is in accordance with Section
37 (1) (b) of The National Elections Act, Article 343 and Section 41(1)
of the Local Government Elections Act, Article 292. He cautioned the
candidates on peaceful campaigns by adhering to election rules and
regulations along with proper schedule. The proper campaign time is from
8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
“Ethics committees have already been
established in various levels with the role of supervising
implementation of ethics throughout the campaign period,” noted the
Chairman.
He however pointed out that six
objections have already been filed, of which five are from Ihumwa Ward
in Dodoma municipality and from Isagehe Ward, in Kahama Township. The
committees are responsible for striking a balance between the parties in
case of any concerns during the campaigns.
“This schedule was supported by all
participating political parties as per the requirements of the law and
presented to the elections supervisors seven days before the
appointment,” he said.
From Zanzibar, Issa Yussuf reports that
the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has endorsed eleven candidates
contesting the January 22, 2017 Dimani Constituency of Unguja-West ‘B’
District by-elections which fell vacant after the death of its MP, Mr
Hafidh Ali Tahir, last month.
Ms Fatma Gharib- election Returning
Officer (RO), said eleven political parties and their candidates will
slog it out for the parliamentary seat, appealing for decent campaign
throughout the ‘battle’ and respect to whoever wins.
The candidates and political parties contesting the election are all men.
“We still remind the candidates and
their fans to abide to ethics and election regulations. We need to
remain in peace before and after the polls,” Ms Gharib said yesterday
when NRA party opened its campaign for Dimani.
The Civic United Front (CUF) and Chama
Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the main political rivals, launch their campaign
after Christmas holidays.
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