Joseph Isangura
Political parties in Tanzania have been given a firm deadline by the country’s electoral commission: sign the Electoral Code of Conduct by Friday, April 12, or be barred from taking part in this year’s general election.
The announcement came from Mr. Ramadhani Kailima, the Director of Elections at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during a televised interview on Thursday evening. His message was clear — the law doesn’t offer room for negotiation.
“A political party that does not sign the Electoral Code of Conduct tomorrow will lose its eligibility to participate in the general election,” Mr. Kailima said. He referred to Section 162(2) of the Presidential, Parliamentary, and Councillor Elections Act, which mandates every party, candidate, the commission, and the government to sign, honour, and follow the code throughout the electoral process.
He further explained that without signing the code, a political party cannot even begin the process of nominating its candidates. “If a political party has not signed the code by tomorrow, it will not be allowed to field a candidate,” he stressed. “This is because Form No. 10 — the official document a candidate needs to confirm their adherence to the code — will not be issued to any party that hasn’t signed.”
The Electoral Code of Conduct outlines essential rules to ensure elections are conducted peacefully, fairly, and without intimidation or violence. It sets expectations for campaigning, behaviour at polling stations, and post-election conduct. Signing the code means publicly committing to those principles.
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So far, most registered political parties have already signed the document. However, a few have expressed reservations, claiming that some of the code’s provisions are either too vague or could be interpreted in ways that disadvantage smaller or opposition parties.
In response to such concerns, INEC maintains that the code was developed transparently and in collaboration with all major stakeholders — including political parties themselves. According to Mr. Kailima, the deadline is a legal matter, not a political one, and the commission has no authority to extend it.
The clock is now ticking. For any party that has yet to sign, the next few hours could determine whether they get to contest in what is shaping up to be one of Tanzania’s most closely watched elections in recent years.
