The presidential candidate for Tanzania’s second-biggest opposition party, Luhaga Mpina, was barred from contesting October’s election.
A former government livestock minister-turned-critic, who defected from the ruling CCM party this month, Mpina was disqualified over alleged failures to comply with nomination procedures during the primaries.
His party, the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), called the decision “shameful,” saying it raised “more questions about the integrity, seriousness, professionalism and the independence of the electoral commission.”
Mpina’s disqualification leaves incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan without any major rivals in the upcoming polls. The main opposition party, CHADEMA, was disqualified in April and its leader Tundu Lissu remains in custody after he was charged with treason for demanding electoral reforms.
The government of Hassan, who came to power in 2021 after the death of her predecessor, has been accused of a growing crackdown against opposition figures, allegations the government denies. Her CCM party has governed Tanzania since 1977.