Tanzania polls open, President Hassan expected to win

President Samia Suluhu Hassan is widely expected to win a second term, especially with the main opponents jailed or barred from running.

Her party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), has governed since Tanzania’s independence in 1961.

Experts also say voter apathy could aid Hassan win more than her promises of big infrastructure projects, hiring of school teachers, and universal health insurance.

In 2021, Hassan was praised after taking office for curtailing the political repression and media censorship that marked the rule of her predecessor, John Magufuli.

However, in the past two years, rights groups and opposition figures have accused her government of carrying out abductions of its critics.

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch has said, “the authorities have suppressed the political opposition and critics of the ruling party, stifled the media, and failed to ensure the electoral commission’s independence.”

Polling stations across Tanzania opened on Wednesday for presidential and parliamentary elections with more than 37 million people registered to vote.

Voting began at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT), with queues forming at various stations.

The poll stations are scheduled to close at 4:00 pm, after which vote tallying will begin.

Preliminary results are expected within a day, although officials have up to a week to declare the final outcome.

Aside from the president, voters will also elect 400 members of parliament, as well as the president and representative of the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago.

With the ruling party dominating the campaign and opposition calls for protests largely muted, analysts expect President Samia Suluhu Hassan to win comfortably.

Welcome to our coverage of the elections in Tanzania where the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party seeks to extend decades in power.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to win after candidates from the two leading opposition parties were barred from standing.