On Monday, Tanzania’s electoral commission announced it had disqualified opposition presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina for the second time.
Mpina, who heads the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), the nation’s second largest opposition party, had only recently regained eligibility after a court overturned an earlier disqualification.
That ruling had compelled the commission to approve his candidacy, a decision now nullified.
The ACT-Wazalendo party rejected the move, calling it “baseless” and politically motivated.With Mpina sidelined, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who assumed power in March 2021 following the death of President John Magufuli, now faces little real opposition in next month’s presidential election, where only candidates from smaller parties remain in the running.
Earlier in April, the main opposition party CHADEMA was also barred from the polls after refusing to sign the electoral code of conduct as part of its push for reforms.
