The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has deployed 80 election observers from 10 member states to oversee Tanzania’s general elections scheduled for October 29, the head of the mission announced on Tuesday.
Former Malawi Chief Justice Richard Msowoya, who leads the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM), said the observers will be stationed across 27 of Tanzania’s 31 regions. Due to limited capacity, the mission will not cover the Mtwara, Shinyanga, Tabora, and Tanga regions.
The SEOM team includes personnel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Their mandate covers the pre-election, election day, and post-election periods, including campaign monitoring, voting procedures, and ballot counting.
Tanzania’s 2025 general elections will feature 18 of the country’s 19 registered political parties competing for seats in what is expected to be a highly competitive and closely observed contest.
Msowoya reaffirmed the mission’s commitment to impartiality and broad stakeholder engagement, noting that while time constraints may limit interaction with all political actors, SEOM will prioritize inclusive consultations with parties and civil society organizations.
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“We encourage all stakeholders to ensure that these elections are conducted in a peaceful, free, fair, transparent, and credible manner,” Msowoya said during the mission’s launch ceremony in Dar es Salaam.
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Source:Africa Publicity
