An election diary... what doesn't make channel 9 news.
Election Eve, Arusha City.
Chagua CCM, Chagua Kikwete, Chagua CCM, Chagua Kikwete (Choose, CCM, Choose Kikwete). The baritone voice booms from the massive speakers on the political campaign truck as it rolls slowly through the streets of Arusha. Pedestrians thrust two fingers in the air in the signature salute of the opposition Chadema party.
We walk through the crowded central market as the sun sets on a Saturday night, market day. Political chants rise into the fading light and it seems the opposition is making the most noise.
The whole city feels electric tonight. There is a feeling that fifty years of one party rule may end tomorrow. In a continent of political violence and tension, Tanzania has been a bastion of calm and peaceful politics. This is, of course, due to the fact that no election has ever been close enough to cause a fuss over. Opposition was banned from independence until the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1995. Since then, CCM has won every election easily, the last one with a majority of eighty percent. Not tomorrow. Not this time.
Arusha is often criticised because it has only one arterial road leading in and one leading out. In normal circumstances this is frustrating but tonight it means the opposing supporters meet each other with great regularity. Mostly these clashes are peaceful shows of party loyalty but the atmosphere is getting tense. So far there have been two election related deaths in the country, the first two ever.
Tonight we are hitting the town to test the vibe. Our first bar is a CCM haunt and the faithful are in fine form. The rank and file are in full voice, dancing around the small bar with photos of Jakaya Kikwete, the President and Dr. Batilda, the Arusha candidate. The party colours of green and gold adorn every surface and the party songs blare from the speakers. CCM has re-recorded the most popular songs in Tanzania with party political lyrics and the revellers are loving every replay. They cook great mishkake here so we stay for a bite.
Next we head to a sports bar in Njiro, the fancy area of town. This crowd is a mix of western ex-pats watching the football and rich young Tanzanians out for a good time. Here, out of the intimidating noise of the CCM bar, people greet each other with the peace-sign symbol of Chadema. It would seem that most of Arusha is keen to see change. That said, Dar Es Salaam is a CCM city and the ruling party has more machinery to register voters and ensure their turnout.
Election Day, Ushirika.
It is the big day and I have made my way down the local voting centre with my neighbour. The centre is at Ushirika, the little market near our house that once served as the Ujumaa (or family) shop during the rule of President Julius Nyerere – himself a CCM leader. The intensity of last night is gone, as a ban on election day campaigning has silenced the party hoons. The shops that usually sell local alcohol and vegetables have been converted into temporary polling stations.
Women wearing the traditional colourful kanga dresses wait patiently in orderly queues to display their voting cards and cast their votes. There is no pressure, no coercion and no apparent bias here. This is democracy in its finest clothes. Other neighbours arrive, two to a bicycle or on the back of tray trucks and leave after having their right little finger dipped in die to prevent multiple voting.
Despite the appearance of perfection, there are electoral difficulties here. Here one must be in possession of a valid voting card. The national ID card is not enough proof of entitlement so if you have lost it or failed to receive one like my neighbour, your vote will not be counted this year. In addition, you must vote at the centre with which you registered and there are no postal votes. For most Tanzanians this is fine, having registered near their home, but for the nation's largely boarding university students, this has proven difficult.
Knowing they would be away from home, most students registered near their university campus expecting to vote there. The government has granted a one-off two week holiday over the election period and many students have travelled home to their families. This rules out a large section of the educated youth, almost all of whom support the opposition. The cynical in the opposition camp suggest this was deliberate. It is not my place to decide.
Walking home from the polling centre, we share the hope that Tanzania does not go the way of Kenya and that the nation accepts the result. If CCM wins, Chadema will claim they stole it, but there is a real chance the ruling party will simply receive more votes. For this peaceful country, one feels Wednesday will be its biggest test. The presidential result will be announced and half of the country will be devastated. Let's hope the reaction doesn't make the channel nine news either.
