This is the fifth general election since the advent of multi-party politics in the country in 1992 and it is the eleventh since the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. This year's election is important for a myriad of reasons, one of them being the fact that it has been 23 years since the introduction of multi-party politics. It has many years and it is safe to state that many of the young people who have registered as voters are within that age bracket, meaning that there were born from 1992 onwards.
These group of voters make up 57 per cent of of registered citizens. Other important issue of this year's election in comparison to that of 1995 is that the country has come a long way since the introduction of multi-partism.
As a country Tanzania has matured and democracy has grown and there are now 22.75 million registered voters. On another note, political opposition has grown and freedom of the press has been enhanced including the growth of the information sector, especially social media. All this is made possible with the prevalence of peace and tranquillity, traits that have continued to be identified with the country in the international community.
General elections are costly financially and in terms of human resources and time and if all do not go well, then the country would have incurred financial losses and it could plunge into chaos and we might lose the peace we have been enjoying for many years now.
The bad thing about war or instability, as we have witnessed in neighbouring Rwanda and Kenya, is that it leads to death, permanent disability, families break up, creates refugees and disruption of the economy, society as well as political instability.
Since independence, despite its youthful and poverty, Tanzanians have never experienced life of turbulence and instability and that is why we all have the responsibility of making sure that tis election passes without any incidents.
It is the duty of each and every Tanzanian irrespective of social standing, race or religion to ensure that we maintain peace at all costs. This means that security organs must carry out their duties diligently sand according to the laws of the land and ensure that Tanzanians vote for their leaders of choice freely and fairly. Basically, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) is the sole body empowered to oversee elections as such it has a huge task as we head towards the general election of ensuring all registered voters exercise their right and go to vote.
To properly execute its duties, NEC is also supposed to ensure that tranparency will reign from the moment voters casts their votes up until when the results are announced, which should be done timely to avoid friction between candidates and the public at large. Politicians, especially candidates and their supporters, are supposed to advocate for peace and stability in the last hours prior to the general election, on polling day and after the election.
People have faith in politicians, whatever message they will send out to the public will either build or destroy our social fabric. The media too has an important role to play to ensure that the election is held in a peaceful atmosphere and even after the results are announced the press should advocate for peace.
That will be possible if the media will adhere to the laws of the land and report on issues ethically including being unbiased in their coverage, avoiding foul language during and after election. Because of their important role, editors in the country have been meeting and discussing on the fate of the country and ensuring that we maintain peace and tranquillity as well as law and order during and after the election and that is why it has been agreed that we should write editorials and analyses stressing on the need to maintain peace.
All in all, no one can claim to be entitled to certain rights than other Tanzanians, this is our country and belongs to all of us, thus it is the duty of each one of us to ensure peace and security prevail.
We call on all eligible Tanzanians to go and vote peacefully, wait for results peacefully and life should go on peacefully and move on peacefully knowing that there is life after the election, which is very important. God Bless Tanzania!
/Daily News.
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