A Tanzanian High Court on Monday dismissed a petition by three citizens challenging the government’s supervision of this year's local government elections instead of the electoral commission.
High Court judge David Ngunyale sitting in Dar es Salaam said another law was required to shift the oversight role of the civic polls from the Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Governments (Tamisemi) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec).
Justice Ngunyale added that the absence of that separate legislation supporting the main law establishing Inec, which was endorsed by parliament in February this year, meant that Tamisemi still held the mandate to supervise the election as in the previous ones.
Under clause 10(1)c of the new law, the newly constituted Inec is responsible for organising, coordinating and supervising the local government elections. The clause also calls for a second law outlining guidelines for Inec to follow in fulfilling this responsibility.
The petitioners Bob Chacha Wangwe, Bubelwa Kaiza and Dr Ananilea Nkya had argued that nowhere in the new law is it stated that in the event of the supporting law being pending, Tamisemi would supervise the polls. Justice Ngunyale asserted that Tamisemi would remain in charge until parliament passes the other law.
Interest in the case had grown in the past few weeks as preparations for the civic elections got underway, against the backdrop of opposition claims of rigging in the voter registration process to give the ruling CCM party an early advantage.
Tamisemi, which operates under the President's Office, last week published figures showing that a record 31.28 million Tanzanians had registered to cast their votes in the November 27 polls against a total population of 61.4 million, according to the 2022 national census.
There have been widespread claims of the register being padded with ineligible voters, including persons known to be deceased and schoolchildren under the legal voting age of 18 years.
The elections cover chairpersons and councillors at ward, street and hamlet levels, and is seen as a litmus test for next year's General Election involving the presidential and parliamentary seats.
Even before the voter registration controversy came to the fore, main opposition parties Cchadema and ACT-Wazalendo raised strong queries regarding the delay in tabling before parliament of the law allowing Inec to take over the running of the civic polls in time for this year's elections.
Monday's court decision added fresh fuel to another longstanding debate about the overlap between Tamisemi and Inec and how it could impact Tanzania's electoral processes.
The Constitution requires civic and general elections be held at least one year apart, and Tamisemi has always been responsible for the former and the electoral commission the latter.
Speaking outside the High Court after the judgment, the petitioners' lead counsel Jebra Kambole said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal.
"This ruling has several flaws," Mr Kambole said. "Everyone has seen what happened here in court, everyone knows what's been going on with regard to the election, and everyone will see what happens next. The courts are where the ills of society should be treated, so if that treatment isn't forthcoming here, then wananchi will know what treatment is needed."
He urged Tanzanians to "turn up for the election, cast their votes and protect those votes in the meantime as we go to the next step in exhausting all judicial avenues."
