Author: FATMA ABDU
AfricaPress-Tanzania: CENTRE for International Policy Africa (CIP) has urged all eligible registered voters in the country to come out in big numbers and vote in their respective registered polling stations, adding that peaceful voting will sail Tanzania through in the next five years.
CIP president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Omary Mjenga told journalists in Dar es Salaam that all Tanzanians should understand that there is life after elections, and urged them to observe all rules and regulations and maintain peace and security.
“Tanzania must prevail and continue to be a model of peace in this region, Africa and globally, we urge Tanzanians to show up in big numbers to vote for president, members of parliament, ward councillors, among others. “We call upon all voters and non-voters to maintain peace and security during the election for their benefits and nation at large,” the president said.
However, Mr Mjenga thanked both the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) for the good work they have so far done.
“Organising and supervising such an election in a big country like Tanzania, indeed is not an easy task. They have played their part and we expect them to continue playing their role as we sail through the Election Day that is-counting of votes and announcement of results,” he explained.
Equally, he called upon them to continue demonstrating and upholding the principles that will lead to free, fair and credible elections, adding CIP is praying for them to steer Tanzania towards those principles.
Mr Mjenga added that CIP is among 97 local observers who were rightly approved and accredited by the two-electoral commission NEC and ZEC to observe the general election in Tanzania.
“The CIP has sent more than 100 observers across the country to observe the general election. All observers underwent a vigorous training in which they were grilled on rules, procedures and guidelines managing local and international observers in elections, focusing Tanzania,” he said.
According to official statistics provided by NEC, there are 29,188,347 million registered voters in the Mainland Tanzania, while in Zanzibar there are 566,352 voters.
In addition, there are 80,155 polling stations in Tanzania Mainland and 1,413 in Zanzibar.
