CUF cries foul over `vote rigging` on October 31

CUF cries foul over `vote rigging` on October 31
By Gerald Kitabu
25th December 2010EmailPrintCommentsThe United Civic Front CUF has said the party’s preview of the election results held in October this year, shows that it won in more than 30 constituencies on the Mainland but, due to dirty tricks, the party ended up winning only two seats.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, CUF acting deputy secretary general (Mainland), Julius Mtatiro said lack of polling agents in most polling stations, coupled with the absence of free and fair elections, cost the party dearly as it ended up losing more than 28 seats.

According to him, some of the constituencies that CUF won thumbs down but the victory was snatched from them by the ruling party by fraudulent means include Tandahimba, Mtwara Urban, Urambo West and Kwimba.

“We won the elections in these constituencies but the ruling party, working closely with government agents, robbed us of victory knowing that, even if we take the case to court, it will take more than six years, which means it would be 2016 because the courts are under their control,” he explained.

In the last general election, CUF won only two seats on Mainland Tanzania.

“If in 1995, when the budget was small but all polling agents were funded, why not in the following elections in which the budget had increased if not the government’s dirty game in favour of the ruling party?" he said.

He explained that after realising that the opposition was becoming strong and a threat to the ruling party after the 1995 elections, the government decided to withdraw funding for polling agents.

Mtatiro, who is acting in the position after taking over from his predecessor, Joran Bashange, following the party’s last week’s reshuffle, named other factors as the role played by the National Electoral Commission to ensure that the ruling party maintained its streak of victories.

“We entered the general elections while NEC officials had their leader already in place, so it was like we were accompanying him because they could not chop off the hands that feed them,” he said.

“You know that NEC top officials are appointed by the president, who is also the chairman of CCM, a competing party in the elections. Therefore, they must remain loyal to him for them to continue enjoying the cake, otherwise they will be fired,” he said.

The CUF official said another reason for the party’s underperformance was that there was a deliberate plan by the ruling party and its agencies to make sure that many youths who were supporters of the opposition were denied the chance to vote.

“There is no doubt that youths are increasingly finding CCM as untrustworthy because it did not fulfill most of its campaign pledges to them, so a trick was hatched to ensure that the names of most youths were removed from voters lists although their names were seen on the board a few days before polling day,” he said.

Commenting on the party's future plans, Mtatiro said within the next five years, the party was planning to start providing civic education to the people through public rallies by party officials at regional, district, ward and branch levels.