By Deus Kibamba
There is a raging
debate over the issue of free and fair polls during the General Election
on October 28 this year. Admittedly, some shortcomings of the past have
been sorted out; but the election management system remains faulty.
It was the view of
some election stakeholders that Tanzania could enhance voter turnout by
setting a polling date other than Sundays.
This year's
elections will see to voters casting their ballots on a Wednesday -
October 28. This is expected to improve voter turnout.
But then again,
October 28 this year is Maulid, which marks the birthday of the Prophet
Muhammad, and is celebrated during the month of Rabiulawal, the third
month of the Muslim calendar.
But a lot of the
other aspects of the election system remain unchanged. From the
supervising elections to the complaints and appeals system, Tanzania's
electoral system is still risky.
For example, the independence of NEC and ZEC - or lack of it - has been debated hotly.
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But the most important issues are still untouched.
For instance:
should the President - who is also the national chairman of (an
interested) political party - be involved in the appointment of
officials who man the electoral bodies?
The independence of
an electoral body is derived from, and measured by, its ability to act
professionally without favouritism or bias. Is this the case in
Tanzania?
Moreover, polls in a
democracy must be conducted transparently. This may affect public trust
in the process - and, without trust, polling is as good as useless.
So, how much is the
electoral process trusted in Tanzania? Responses to this are
overwhelming, and would be the subject for many more articles to come.
What is important and urgent for the here and now is how to enhance trust in the October 28 polls.
Tanzania has not
signed, ratified or 'domesticated' the African Charter on Elections,
Democracy and Governance, whose text is in line with democratic
principles and practices.
Thus far, only
eight of the 55 African nation-states are, with Tanzania: outside the
scope of the Charter - including Libya, Morocco, Egypt and Eritrea.
Except for
Tanzania, nearly all the other countries have gone through turbulence
since the adoption of the Charter in 2007. Indeed, Tanzania enjoys a
comparative state of tranquillity to warrant democratic progression on
its part.
By not signing the
Charter, Tanzania lives in total isolation from some of its EAC and SADC
counterparts, in terms of electoral democracy.
No wonder
Tanzania's newly-drafted Union Constitution had to stall, basically for
lack of political will to abide by the principles of free, fair and
transparent elections as envisaged in the draft statute and the African
Charter on Elections.
Tanzania is unduly
dilatory in this case. Even countries like the Democratic Republic of
São Tomé and Príncipe [population: 219,934) have signed, ratified and
deposited the Charter with the African Union as required.
Oh... How I wish Tanzania would start putting in practice the Charter's provisions!
The Charter came
about as a measure to put Africa on the map of democracy. It seeks to
entrench in the continent a culture of change of power based on the
holding of regular, free, fair and transparent elections.
It requires that
elections are conducted only by competent, independent and impartial
national electoral bodies. It prohibits, rejects and condemns any and
all forms of unconstitutional change of government likely to cause
insecurity, instability and conflicts.
Above all, Article
2(5) of the Charter promotes and protects the independence of Courts,
including in dealing with elections-related petitions.
Sadly, Tanzania's
electoral system is yet to provide for the petitioning of the election
of a Union President. This could trigger elections-related violence in
the future.
In a nutshell:
Tanzania's status in respect of the African Charter on Democracy,
Elections and Governance remains awkward, as not having even signed the
instrument may pose the question of why Tanzania attended the Summit
that adopted the Charter in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2007.
Also, Tanzania
marginalizes itself in two ways. First, the country has limited or no
chances of seeking mediation or arbitration by the AU in the case of
problematic developments in future elections.
The fact that
Tanzania is a not a party to the Charter keeps her out of any forum for
reforming the Charter. Legally, only state parties may take part in
processes to revise or amend the Charter as provided for in Article 50
of the Charter.
Tanzania cannot be
allowed to propose any reforms to this very important Charter which has
now been registered with the United Nations' Secretary General, in
accordance with Article 102 of the UN Charter.
So, why does Tanzania continue to ignore such an important Charter, pray?
In my view, the ongoing election campaigns must serve to gather responses from politicians to these and related questions.
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