By-elections in constituency, wards to cost nation Sh3 billion

Dar es Salaam. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) will spend at least Sh3 billion on activities related to by-elections in Buyungu Constituency and across 79 wards on Mainland Tanzania, the body said yesterday. Commission’s chairman Judge Semistocles Kaijage said this in Dar es Salaam yesterday when he met with political party leaders in an event where NEC sought to inform its stakeholders about preparations for the by-elections. The director of elections at NEC, Mr Athumani Kalemani urged stakeholders to strictly abide with the electoral law in a bid to avoid the recurrence of challenges witnessed during the Kinondoni and Siha by-elections. “I urge you to properly understand the electoral law so that we can help each other in making a historical by-election that will be transparent to all parties. I will use the experience I got when I was in Arusha to ensure that everything goes as have planned. Just follow all required procedures,” he said. Meanwhile, the central committee of the main opposition party, Chadema, has endorsed Elia Kanjero to be its flag bearer in the forthcoming Buyungu by-election in Kigoma. The Buyungu constituency fell vacant in May following the demise of its legislator, Mr Bilago Kasuku (Chadema).

Mr Kasuku, who was a teacher, died on May 26, 2018 at the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam where he had been admitted to following a referral from Dodoma’s DCMC Hospital.