Tanzania’s Opposition Candidate Barred from Running a Second Time
Opposition presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina has been banned from running in next month’s election for the second time.
The electoral commission disqualified Mpina, the candidate for the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), the country’s second opposition party. The move overturned a court ruling that had reinstated his candidacy after an earlier disqualification, with the commission citing an objection by Attorney General Hamza Saidi Johari. ACT-Wazalendo denounced the decision as politically motivated, vowing to challenge it.
This leaves President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the ruling CCM facing little competition. Hassan came to power without being directly elected after taking over from John Magufuli when he died in March 2021, and she has taken no chances in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary votes. The main opposition party, Chadema, was already barred in April, and its candidate, Tundu Lissu, remains jailed on treason charges. Rights groups have warned of a government crackdown on opposition voices.
