John Magufuli - The African Mirror

Oct

2020

A contested legacy: Julius Nyerere and the 2020 Tanzanian election

LUKE MELCHIORRE, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Universidad de los Andes TANZANIANS will head to the polls on 28 October in which the incumbent, John Magufuli, faces a determined opposition. Elected to a first term in 2015, Magufuli’s time in office has lived up to his nickname tinga tinga, Kiswahili for “the bulldozer”. He has been applauded by some for advancing a series of major developmental projects. Others have denounced him for his arguably more autocratic, repressive rule Magufuli leads Chama Cha Mapinduzi, one of the longest-serving ruling parties in Africa. It is also the party of Tanzania’s socialist founding father,…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

At the edge of democracy: what the upcoming general election holds in store for Tanzania

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

NICODEMUS MINDE, PhD Fellow, United States International University BEFORE the heroic return of opposition figure, Tundu Lissu, in late July 2020, Tanzania’s political landscape lacked the exuberance and ebullience that comes with an election season. Lissu’s return reignited the hopes of a despondent opposition that had been subdued by the oppressive and restrictive political environment during President John Magufuli’s five-year term. Lissu has been active in politics for the last two decades. He was elected to parliament on a Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Party for Democracy and Progress) ticket in 2010. A firebrand lawyer and politician, he is known…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzania opposition leader says facing repression as elections near

NEWS

THREE weeks before elections, the Tanzanian government is getting scared and will do all in its power to stop the opposition, according to Tundu Lissu, a presidential hopeful whose convoy was teargassed by police last week. "It is getting harder. It is getting hotter. We expected this," Lissu, from the main opposition Chadema party, told Reuters on Wednesday. Chadema says its party offices in Arusha in northern Tanzania were firebombed. Meanwhile, dozens of opposition parliamentary candidates were disqualified from running in the elections for president and members of parliament on October 28. "The regime is getting scared and therefore they…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzania suspends opposition leader’s election campaign

NEWS

TANZANIAN authorities on Friday suspended the election campaign of leading opposition candidate Tundu Lissu for seven days over accusations of inciting violence in the run-up to a national vote set for October 28. The National Electoral Commission said the decision was taken by its ethics committee after it received two complaints from the ruling party and another party about the language Lissu had used on the campaign trail. It was the latest attempt to derail the campaign of Lissu, a fierce critic of President John Magufuli’s administration. Magufuli faces 14 challengers with analysts saying a divided opposition is likely to…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Tanzanian president Magufuli to face 14 challengers in Oct elections

NEWS

TANZANIAN president John Magufuli will face 14 challengers in elections scheduled for this October, the elections board announced on Wedne, with analysts saying a divided opposition was likely to ensure he won a second term. His main challengers are likely to be Tundu Lissu, who returned to Tanzania last month after spending nearly three years in Belgium for treatment after he was shot during an assassination attempt, and ex-foreign minister Bernard Membe, who was expelled from the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi party in February. The presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 28. Opposition parties are heading to the…