Supervision of Local Government Elections in Tanzania: The Plight for Independent Electoral Organs

Abstract

Local government elections provide an opportunity forpeople to choose their immediate leaders at the grass-rootlevel. They are means to ensure democracy at such levels.Prompted by events and results of the 2019 localgovernment elections, this study examines the efficiency ofthe existing laws and regulations on local governmentelections in ensuring free and fair elections. The resultspoint out to lack of independence and neutrality of electionsupervisory bodies at the said levels. The studyrecommends review of the whole election system at grassrootlevel in order to ensure free and fair elections.Key Terms: Local Government Elections, Election Supervision,Independence of Election Supervisors