Published On 28/10/2025
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Last update: 11:16 (Mecca time)
The main opposition leader in Zanzibar accused the ruling party and the electoral commission of planning to rig the elections scheduled for this week, pointing to the registration of the names of deceased people on voter lists, at a time when the semi-independent islands are preparing to run in a new electoral entitlement amid a long history of political tensions.
The population of the Zanzibar archipelago is about 1.9 million people, and its previous elections were known for violence and unrest, but the atmosphere has remained calm until now. About 700,000 voters are scheduled to go to the polls to choose the president of Tanzania from among the mainland candidates, in addition to a local president for the island.
But the opposition believes that opening polling stations early for two days is unjustified, as it says that the size of the island does not require this, and considers it an entry point for tampering with the results.
Opposition accusations
Othman Masoud Othman, a party’s candidate for the presidency of Zanzibar, said in statements to Agence France-Presse that the Electoral Commission allows the participation of unqualified voters, describing the process as “early theft.”
He added that a review of voter records revealed the names of “quite a few” deceased persons. Othman also accused the committee of planning to prevent his party’s delegates from entering polling stations, considering the monitoring process to be “vague and non-transparent.”
On the other hand, the head of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission, George Joseph Kazi, denied these accusations, describing them as “fake news.” He told reporters, “There is no name of a deceased person in the registry, and there is no minor either. We have adhered to the law, and the opposition is fabricating stories to use later to create tension.”
Influence struggle with the mainland
In addition to the electoral integrity file, Othman criticized what he described as the “excessive role” played by the mainland in the affairs of the island, considering that the relationship between the two parties is “unequal and unfair.” Zanzibar joined Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania, and is currently administered through a unity government.
These developments come at a time when voters on the mainland are preparing to go to the polls on October 29, amid the exclusion of the most prominent opposition candidates from the race. In a recent report, Amnesty International described the election atmosphere as a “wave of terror” that included enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings.