Where We Work.
Tanzania
Where We Work.
Tanzania
The current political context in Tanzania presents several opportunities for enhancing democracy and electoral stability. A plurality of political parties, and an increasingly open and engaged civil society and growing independent media are among the notable successes in the country.
There have however also been setbacks in the process of consolidating the transition towards a participatory political system in the recent history. The political will to open the democratic space demonstrated in the post-Magufuli era has however been encouraging.
Under the leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the government has made commitments to expand and respect rights and freedoms.
Discussions with the main opposition political parties regarding their concerns around the revision of the electoral and political parties’ legislation and democracy have also been accommodated and efforts have been made to facilitate inclusive dialogue on options to strengthen democracy in Tanzania.
The sincerity and sustainability of this good-will has not yet been tested in the politically charged setting of a high-stakes election contest. The recent positive democratic gains made will be put to the test when the nation holds its local and national elections in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Our Goal.
The overarching goal of the project is to support a stable and democratic election cycle in Tanzania characterised by:
- Increased effectiveness of civil society engagement in governance and electoral processes.
- Greater public participation in the overall democratic process.
- Improved rate of resolution of conflict and election challenges.
Project Objectives
The objectives of the Project in Tanzania will be achieved through various targeted interventions including:
Election related capacity building of civil society and faith-based organisations to strengthen democracy and election support.
Citizen participation, consultations, and dialogue across the electoral cycle in Tanzania.
Pre-election, election and post-election peace and human rights monitoring/election observation and dispute resolution.
Networks & Partners
EISA Tanzania is funded by the European Union (EU) Delegation, Khartoum, Sudan.
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Publications
This article analyses the pitfalls that characterised the emergence and
eventual demise of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tanzania’s
semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar. Drawn from continuous political and
electoral observations in Zanzibar, the article analyses how the 2015 general
elections contributed to the eventual dissolution of the GNU. The GNU in
Zanzibar was a negotiated political settlement between two parties – the
incumbent Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF).
In particular, this article looks at how the start of the constitutional review
process in Tanzania contributed to the withering of the GNU. Despite its
undeniably noble agenda, the constitutional review process resuscitated old
enmities between CCM and the CUF. The two parties’ divergent stances
on the structure of the Union revived the rifts that characterised their
relationship before the GNU. We analyse the election cycle rhetoric following
the run-up to the elections and how this widened the GNU fissures leading
to its eventual demise after the re-election in March 2016. After the 2015
elections were nullified, the CUF, which had claimed victory, boycotted the
re-election. As a result, the CCM won an overwhelming electoral victory.
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and, as is the case with other poor countries, there have been, for the past 20 years, internal and external efforts to try to free the country from the woes of poverty. There are many theories about what went wrong in Tanzania. These range from colonial domination – and its attendant problems of dependency and underdevelopment – to those which target capitalism and its ‘predatory’ nature, leading, among other things, to unequal exchange on the world market, world division of labour, and so on (Ellis 1983; Dutkiewicz & Williams 1987) as well as the ubiquitous globalisation which currently affects many aspects of life. However, not everyone believes that these theories provide a plausible explanation for what happened and why. Some see the problem as structural and also cite the inappropriate policies pursued by many poor countries, which were candidly acknowledged by the Organisation of African Unity (1986, p 17). Others (eg, Babu 1991, pp 31-4, Shivji 1974, pp 85-90) blame the way the policy was implemented. We will examine the causes of the predicament more closely and demonstrate how things are changing.
Our Team
