Samia’s government is stifling our democratic development

Tanzania is at the midway point of Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan presidency. We need to take further stock of the work of her government.

I’ve always rated the political health of a country as absolutely paramount in assessing our heads of state.

I for one have been fairly well-disposed towards her democratic outlook when compared to most of her predecessors. Significantly, I had steered well clear of one particular area of governance: the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP).

This office is an integral part of our democratic project. And it refers to itself boldly as ‘nyumba ya demokrasia’ or house of democracy. In the main, it has been a very mixed bag on that front.

With the arrival of Samia, my hope was that things would have shaped up one way or another.

I watched with bated breadth to see her offering guidance to their office-bearers on their core functions.

And as it were, Samia would deploy three of its top officers to the presidential task force on democracy - a clear show of high consideration for that office.

And only recently did Samia task the registrar to convene a meeting of the Political Parties Council, in order to set the ball rolling for a review of our constitution.

Amid all the political goings-on, one critical function of that office has escaped public attention.

I’m addressing here the registration of new political parties. There has not been a new party since 2014. That’s right! Almost a decade now.


One would be forgiven for thinking that all Tanzanians are satisfied through and through with the obtaining ones and have cast aside any thought of new ones.

Curiously, Samia prior to the formation of the task force, informed in passing a meeting of political stakeholders that the ORPP has received a few requests for registration.

I did ask myself if it was her responsibility to reveal that information. All the same I thought we were on the correct democratic trajectory.

Alas, this is far from the case. The state of affairs is most bleak I’m afraid.

Samia herself has gone conspicuously silent and to make matters worse, the tone of the registrar judge from his last interview bears all the hallmarks of hubris.

Airs and graces fills the air with him. A typical headmaster-like figure of old where you take immediate cover at his unexpected appearance.

He and our headmistress-like speaker could easily fit in the same class room.

Putting aside personality, 4th May 2023 was the date I and a comrade submitted our registration forms.

We felt a huge sigh of relief as Tanzania from our experience must be one of the hardest countries in the ‘democratic’ world to form a political party.

Just getting to know the exact requirements was a struggle in itself. The whole thing is shrouded in secrecy.

The idea evidently is that the faint-hearted give up.

We persevered though until the end. What now followed our submission is absolutely pathetic and smacks of ill-intent.

To begin with, we were informed that we would hear from the ORPP within days if there were any corrections to be made.

That never happened and it took frequent chasing up to get a response more than a month later. Astonishingly, their letter omitted the date of our submission.

That is the level of functioning of our ‘modern’ Tanzanian government. It isn’t for no reason that we are told that “justice delayed is justice denied”.

I must state that by omitting the date, the whole registration process becomes fundamentally problematic.

The reason for this is as is clearly stipulated in Part 11 Regulation (4) Application for Provisional Registration.

The registrar in sub-regulation (1) shall ‘upon our application being received publish a notice in at least two national newspapers, English and Kiswahili, inviting any objections to the name, symbol or colour of the party or any other particular matter...’ Sub-regulation (2) says this is to happen simultaneously with the scrutinising of our documents.

Sub-regulation (3) finishes by stating that if within thirty days there are no objections and our application is in order, a provisional registration certificate is issued.

Now here we are today still waiting for the public notice. And we were told after thirty days to make certain corrections.

Amongst them are further proof of our citizenship. The NIDA card is in this instance bloody worthless. What I had also presented as an affidavit of my late father, incidentally Tanzania’s first indigenous AG, was found to be insufficient.

It got me imagining that some of these very demanding people were probably still in their diapers when Mzee and Nyerere were thinking at an African and not mere village level.

To worsen our situation are the few advocates advising us to just submit the corrections and disregard procedural infractions?

Really? My schooling taught me the importance of adhering to the process and not shortcuts.

As a result of the above, we find ourselves in a needlessly difficult position on how to proceed. On the one occasion that the sister newspaper of The Citizen sought an answer from the registrar, he replied that he was ill. His assistant claimed he was busy and that questions be directed to his boss. It is preposterous!

I say in closing that final proof of ill-intent is that the application fee for provisional registration is only possible with a so-called control number. This number despite several reminders hasn’t been availed to us to date.

The upshot of all this is to read a deliberate move to frustrate the formation of new parties similarly to independent candidates. Tanzania desperately needs fresh parties. The ORPP is proving to be an enemy of democracy.

At this rate all I can say is Mama Samia had better put paid to any prospect of the Mo Ibrahim Prize coming her way as had once been mooted by a political figure. At a personal level, I vow to oppose it tooth and nail.

Tanzania deserves far better than this!