PM: Govt looks for the possibility of its Diaspora to vote in general election

PRIME Minister Mizengo Pinda has said that the government is looking for a permanent solution which 

would enable Tanzanians living in the diaspora to cast their vote wherever they are during the general elections 

of October this year. The PM made a statement on Wednesday this week in Uganda when answering questions 

of Tanzanians who lives in Uganda at a luncheon party which they had organized at Serena Hotel in Kasmpala city.

 “We as a government we really wanted the process to be completed on time so that all Tanzanians living in the 

Diaspora are participating in the general elections, but when our talks with the National Electoral Commission

(NEC) came to discover that it couldn’t be so owing to the fact that, it was impossible to send out of the country 

the Voter Registration Machines used for registering people known as Biometric Voter Registration or BVR as the

registration is going on in the country”, he said. He said the government has not yet given up and that he himself is

optimistic that the government would work on it during another general election of 2020. 

Tanzania's Prime Minister Mr. Mizengo Pinda

Elaborating on the number of the voters in the country,, the PM clarified that initially the target was to register 24 million voters but

according to the statistics available and  experience which was attained within SADC region, the NEC advised

the government to set a target of not  exceeding 22 million people. “But as many of you might have heard, before the completion of the registration of the people in Dar es Salaam region alone which was the last in the series of

registration already we had surpassed the earlier target of 24 million voters”, he said. He said this is something to

be proud of because initially the process was marred with a number of discrepancies and many complaints  of 

people who thought that the exercise could not have been done correctly. The Premier arrived in Uganda on 

Wednesday this week at night for a one day visit to represent President Jakaya Kikwete who was invited to   

attend the commemoration of the 100 of the Uganda Scouts Association – (USA). The Ugandan President 

Yowerti Museveni is the custodian of the party