Tanzanians go to the polls on Wednesday (October 29) in a general election widely seen as non-competitive, with President Samia Suluhu Hassan facing no major challenger after opposition figures were barred, detained, or withdrew in protest at what they describe as an uneven political playing field.

In the lead-up to the general election, opposition figures, activists, and government critics reported surveillance, intimidation and arbitrary detentions, while local civil society organisations said political rallies and dissent were increasingly restricted.

Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, said it would boycott the presidential and parliamentary elections unless the government implemented what it calls "fundamental electoral reforms".  

The protest move followed disqualification by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) earlier this year over Chadema’s refusal to sign the mandatory electoral code of conduct, arguing that participating under the existing rules would legitimise what it perceives as an unfair playing field.

Chadema’s disqualification came amid broader political tensions, including a treason charge brought in April against party leader Tundu Lissu, who was blocked from contesting. Another prominent opposition figure, Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo, was also barred from seeking the presidency.

Lissu and Mpina’s absence from the ballot leaves Hassan – the East African nation's first female head of state after the death in 2021 of sitting President John Magufuli – all but certain to win another term.

“Her widely anticipated victory would be only the third time a woman has been popularly elected as president of an African country. But beyond this, the polls are more of a historical relic,” wrote Chatham House research fellow Fergus Kell.

“Not since before the advent of multi-party democracy in Tanzania has the ruling [Chama cha Mapinduzi] CCM party, in power since independence, faced so little competitive opposition.”

While Tanzania is a multiparty democracy, a version of Hassan's CCM – whose name translates as the Party of the Revolution – has been in power since the East African country won independence from Britain in 1961.

Rights and pro-democracy groups, such as Amnesty International and Freedom House, say that under Hassan, there has been a narrowing of political space, although her government maintains that legal processes are being followed.

“Many of these issues are systemic at their core. Tanzania’s constitution, rooted in the logic of a one-party system and unchecked executive power, has not been overhauled since independence. Even accepting this uneven playing field, these elections represent a missed opportunity for the country,” Kell writes.

“Having removed any realistic opposition threat, [Hassan] could have had a free run to present a truly coherent policy vision in line with recent strategic and economic ambitions. Or she could have preserved some of Tanzania’s democratic credentials by allowing a more open electoral playing field. She chose to do neither.”