In Same East, the battle is between two strong women

Same. The 2020 General Election is hours away - and there already are exciting battles between women contesting various positions.

It is a women’s battle indeed following parties’ nomination of women to fight it out at all election levels: councillorship MPs and special seats for women.

The party nominations have seen to women competing with fellow women - but with a sprinkling of women taking on men at the polls.

New Kilango-Kaboyoka fight

In many constituencies, men are contesting various positions. But, this time round, there is a repeat of Chadema and CCM women competing against each other as was the case in the 2015 elections.

In Same East, CCM’s Anne Kilango-Malecela and Nanghenjwa Kaboyoka of Chadema are crisscrossing the constituency to woo voters.

This is a repeat of the 2010 and 2015 polls when Ms Kaboyoka virtually beat Ms Kilango-Malecela hands down.

Ms Kilango-Malecela is going at it hammer and tongs to beat Ms Kaboyoka this time. Eyes and ears in the constituency are trained on these two women battling each other.

Ms Kaboyoka goes into this competition for the third time since 2010 when she lost to Ms Kilango-Malecela. Before decamping to Chadema, she was a CCM cadre - and, at a certain point, she led the CCM women wing (UWT).

She decamped to Chadema after losing in the CCM opinion polls in 2005 and 2010 against Ms Kilango-Malecela.

Ms Kaboyoka says her bid was sabotaged and that she had won, but Ms Kilango-Malecela was declared winner! She has been the MP since 2015.

What Same East constituency expects

The most pertinent issues in the constituency include shortage of water, roads, education and ginger farming.

Talking about roads, the former Lugulu Ward leader (2010-2015), Jotham Chagwa (CCM), says people in the hilly parts of the constituency are adversely affected economically because of bad roads.

Mr Chagwa says poor transport infrastructure has caused a steep drop in ginger farming, the crop that distinguishes Same from other districts in the region.

“Ginger was sold at Sh100,000-to-Sh120,000 a bagful before the coronavirus pandemic, Covid-19. Today, the same sackful is sold at Sh50,000,” he says.

According to him, besides the bad roads challenge, pupils have to walk long distances to school due to shortage of schools in the constituency.

This situation, he says, has caused a drop in the level of education. Expectations are that, for anyone to win the hearts and minds of the electorate, he or she has to zero in on these two important issues, he pontificates.

CCM brags...

Regarding the previous general election, the Kilimanjaro Regional CCM secretary, Mr Jonathan Mabihya, says this year’s general election will be unique - if only because factions that bedeviled the party have been broken up. “In the coming (2020) general election, it is obvious that we will win. Firstly, we have a good track record of winning previous elections. In 2015, we lost only because of the factions that existed in the party. Voters in favour of former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa caused the ruling party (CCM) to lose the 2015 elections,” he said. “We strongly believe that this year’s elections will be a walkover in this constituency,” he added. Despite all this bragging, the Chadema national chairman, Mr Freeman Mbowe, said in Hai that constituencies in the hands of Chadema will not be lost to CCM.

“The ballot box will give the verdict, come October 28,” he said.

Same District has two constituencies, namely Same East and Same West.