Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) has officially opened the window for the collection of nomination forms for councillors, members of the House of Representatives, and presidential candidates ahead of this year’s general election.
Political parties have been making preparations for their candidates to collect the forms, with 17 parties showing interest in the Zanzibar presidency. Each aspirant is required to pay 1,000/- to collect the forms and a further 2m/- upon submission.
ZEC Director, Mr Thabit Idarous Faina, said yesterday here in Zanzibar that all arrangements have been put in place to ensure a free, secure and fair electoral process, adding that all candidates will receive equal treatment.
He further revealed that 34 election observers, including two international institutions, have already applied to monitor the polls.
“We have very good preparations this year. ZEC will operate with a budget of 12.26bn/-, funds provided by the government, which has already released 71 per cent of the allocation. We are very grateful to the government for this support,” said Faina.
According to the schedule, CCM presidential candidate Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi will be the first to collect nomination forms at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 30.
Candidates from other political parties will follow later the same day, including NLD, AAFP, CUF, TLP and NRA. On Sunday, August 31, aspirants from CCK and ACT-Wazalendo will collect their forms, while the Democratic Party (DP) candidate is expected on September 1.
Preparations for the event are also being coordinated by CCM, led by Secretary for Ideology, Publicity and Training, Khamis Mbeto Khamis, alongside the CCM Parents’ Wing represented by Zainabu Shomari and the CCM Youth Wing (UVCCM) through its Deputy Leader, Abdi Mahmoud Abdi.
Various groups, including women entrepreneurs, motorcycle taxi riders (bodaboda), Alphard tourist vehicle drivers, female politicians from CCM, youths, cyclists and musicians, are also mobilising to join the celebrations on Saturday.
Urban West Regional Commissioner, Idriss Kitwana Mustafa, who chairs the regional defence and security committee, confirmed that the region is well-prepared to facilitate the nomination ceremonies starting on Saturday with Dr Mwinyi, followed by other candidates.
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