Tanzania's President Hassan Wins Disputed Election with 97% of the Vote

Strategic Insights -

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the country's disputed election with more than 97% of the vote, according to official results announced Saturday. Her two main opponents had been prevented from running, leaving her virtually unopposed. Hassan, who took power in 2021, appeared at an event in the administrative capital, Dodoma, to receive the winner's certificate from electoral authorities. The result is likely to amplify the concerns of critics, opposition groups, and others who said the election in Tanzania was not a contest but a coronation.

Key Takeaways:

  • The election was marred by violence, with credible reports of 10 deaths in Dar es Salaam, Shinyanga, and Morogoro towns, according to the U.N. human rights office.
  • The opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, was jailed for months for treason after calling for electoral reforms, and another opposition figure, Luhaga Mpina, was barred from running.
  • The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has ruled Tanzania since its independence from Britain in 1961, is accused of maintaining a firm grip on power through coercion and silencing critical voices.
  • Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned of a pattern of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings in Tanzania ahead of the polls.
  • U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all parties to "prevent further escalation" and condemned the violence, while the foreign ministers of the U.K., Canada, and Norway expressed concern over the situation in Tanzania.
  • Hassan's victory extends the CCM party's streak of single-party rule in Tanzania, which has been the norm since 1992.

Statistics:

  • Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the disputed election with more than 97% of the vote.
  • Credible reports of 10 deaths in Dar es Salaam, Shinyanga, and Morogoro towns.
  • Over 200 cases of enforced disappearance since 2019, according to a United Nations panel of human rights experts.
  • More than 200 detainees in Tanzania's prisons, according to a report by the U.N. human rights office.

Sources:

  • "Tanzania's President Wins Disputed Election with 97% of Vote, Official Results Show" (New Delhi Times, Nov. 3)
  • U.N. human rights office spokesman Seif Magango (video briefing from Kenya on Nov. 3)
  • Joint statement by U.K., Canadian, and Norwegian foreign ministers (Nov. 3)
  • Report by Amnesty International (June 2023)
  • Analysis by the International Crisis Group (Oct. 2023)
  • U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (statement on Nov. 3)