Poll observers term Tanzania elections flawed, say voters denied democratic will

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) announced that the just-concluded elections in Tanzania were flawed.

In a statement on Monday, the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) said that a delegation sent to Tanzania since the pre-election period observed a myriad of anomalies that impeded a smooth electoral process.

The observers experienced challenges in consulting with key stakeholders, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as they had not been issued with introduction letters together with accreditation identification cards as required by the law. Some were subjected to interrogation by the security forces and their official documents, including their passports, were seized.

They were only returned later and were forced to delete mission-related photographs from their official gadgets.

“Further, some stakeholders were reluctant to share information with the observers and often referred them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation for further information,” added the statement.

On the election day, October 29, SEOM observed media platforms were more restricted than it was during the previous elections.

“Some stakeholders also highlighted that the private media outlets were self-censoring due to fears of losing their licences should their coverage of election issues be deemed unacceptable by the Government,” added the statement.

SADC therefore noted that the electoral process did not observe the guidelines of its electoral conduct.

“It is the SEOM’s tentative conclusion that, in most areas, voters could not express their democratic will. Overall, the 2025 General Election in the United Republic of Tanzania fell short of the requirements of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections,” SADC added.

The 66 observers came from 10 countries — Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe — and were deployed across 27 of 31 Tanzanian regions.
Tanzania’s electoral commission claimed turnout was 87 percent.

The report said in some polling stations, “there were multiple orderly stacked ballots in the ballot box during voting, which created a perception of ballot stuffing”.

It added there were impressions some people “cast more than one vote at a time with the intention to cheat the election system”.

It noted violence in Mbeya, Dodoma, Arusha, and in the largest city of Dar es Salaam.
An opposition spokersperson said Saturday they believed “no less than 800 people” died during days of unrest.

SEOM also noted concern that there was “increasing covert and overt limitations on the right to freedom of expression”, and that there was “heavy censorship of online information platforms”.

President Samia Suluhu, despite unrest and internet blockage after election protests, was sworn in to power on Monday at the State House in the capital Dodoma and will be deputised by Emmanuel Nchimbi.
Her victory came with harsh rejection of the election results by the main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from competing, and has called for fresh elections, calling the October 29 election vote a “sham”.

The electoral commission says Hassan won 98 per cent of the vote.

Chadema claimed on Friday that hundreds of people had been killed in the protests, but the government has dismissed the alleged death toll as “hugely exaggerated” and has rejected criticisms of its human rights record.