Chadema: Remove poll official, or else...

Dar es Salaam. The opposition Chadema yesterday called for the removal of the returning officer for Kinondoni Constituency ahead of the forthcoming by-election, claiming that he has failed to oversee electoral regulations.

Chadema has also written to Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro and the National Electoral Commission (NEC), accusing the ruling CCM of plotting to unleash violence on Election Day on February 17.

Briefing the press yesterday, party’s operations and training director, Mr Benson Kigaila, said they were disappointed by the tendency of the Ethics Committee in the constituency, which is headed by the Municipal Executive Director, to engage in matters that were beyond its jurisdiction.

He cited a recent example where complaints by CCM, which he claimed fell within the criminal jurisdiction and so were supposed to be investigated by the police, were handled by the Ethics Committee.

“It’s not the mandate of the Ethics Committee to deal with criminal matters. When people engage in violence, it is the Police Force which is supposed to step in and deal with the matter. However, we have noted with concern that the municipal executive director, who now doubles as the returning officer, has been exceeding his mandate by engaging in such matters,” he said.

“We’ve written a letter calling for his removal because of his conduct. We object to his conduct and call for his immediate removal as we fear that he will not be fair in his decisions,” the Chadema official said. He added that the criminal matter that the director was allegedly involved in handling was based on a claim by a member of CCM that he was attacked by Chadema youth. He said: “By the nature of things, it’s impossible to tell whether the youths who attacked the CCM member came from Chadema or not. But even if that were to be the case, one person cannot put to task all members of a party.”

Calling for concerned authorities to provide security, Mr Kigaila claimed that CCM had readied rogue youths so that they would cause chaos and disrupt the electoral process.

He also accused the ruling party of ferrying over 100 people from Zanzibar for the same purpose.

“In our letter to the IGP and NEC, we have asked for CCM to be made accountable for any person who will be hurt. We have evidence showing that they have started to distributing weapons, including axes and machetes,” he added, saying they intended to submit the letter yesterday.

For his part, the party’s chairman of the Campaign and Operations Committee, Mr Frederick Sumaye, expressed his hope that the allegations would be dealt with by relevant authorities.

Mr Sumaye warned that Tanzania would slide back into a one-party state as bodies that were mandated to ensure democracy have been deployed to do everything in their powers to ensure that the Opposition was defeated.

“We call on the electoral Commission to ensure a fair poll in all by-elections and the police to ensure peace,” he said.