Locals in the Bunda district of Tanzania's Mara region queued up outside polling stations on Wednesday to cast their votes. The vice chairman of the ruling CCM party Steven Wasira was also seen arriving at the station and casting his ballot.
This comes amid violent protests in Dar es Salaam, which police reportedly used tear gas to disperse.
Supporters of opposition parties took to the streets, with local media reporting that demonstrators burned tires and a petrol station. A curfew has been imposed in Tanzania’s biggest city, with global monitors also recording ‘nationwide disruption to internet connectivity'.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to win the elections, especially after opponents from two major political parties were disqualified.
Hassan, who is seeking a second term in office, has been accused of cracking down on dissent to stay in power. Days before the elections, Amnesty International said that Hassan’s government had ‘intensified repressive practices’ against opposition leaders, journalists, and dissenting voices, targeting them with ‘assaults, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.’
She came to power in 2021 after the death of her predecessor, John Magufuli. Over 37 million of the East African nation’s total population will be choosing a president, parliament members, and local councillors for the 29 regions on mainland Tanzania. A president and parliament members will also be elected in the autonomous island of Zanzibar.
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