AfricaPress-Tanzania: ZANZIBAR Electoral Commission (ZEC) has declared Prof Omar Faki Hamad a winner for the House of Representatives for Pandani Constituency in Pemba on the ticket of ACT-Wazalendo following a by-election held on Sunday.
Prof Hamad was ACT-Wazalendo’s union presidential running mate in the 2020 general election before the party pulled out to vie for the top seat independently to support Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo’s presidential candidate Tundu Lissu.
According to the ZEC’s Pandani by-election returning officer Suluhu Ali Rashid, the ACT-Wazalendo’s candidate emerged victorious with 2,361 votes beating nine other contestants. The ruling CCM candidate Mr Mohamed Juma Ali won second place with 1,934 votes.
Speaking immediately after the announcement of the results, Prof Hamad said the election was fair and free.
Prof Hamad fills the seat left vacant following the death of Abubakar Khamis Bakar. He died shortly after election in October. The elections were followed by political reconciliation led by the late First Vice President Seif Sharif Hamad and the incumbent Zanzibar president Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi.
In another by-election for a councillor’s seat for Kinuni ward, Unguja Urban West Region, Chama Cha Mapinduzi candidate Ms Salama Rajab Masinga emerged victorious with 2,376 votes. She pledged to maintain unity among the people of Zanzibar regardless the political affiliations.
