WILDAF wants wider representation in NEC committee  

It wants the representatives to be added to the proposed nine-member team proposed in the National Electoral Commission Bill 2023.

 Anna Kulaya, WILDAF national coordinator, made the call in Dodoma yesterday while submitting recommendations for the Electoral Commission Bill during a public hearing to collect recommendations for the three proposed bills.

WILDAF further recommends that section 5(4) of the bill which calls upon equal representation of chairperson and vice chair of the commission between the Mainland and Zanzibar be amended to specify that the top posts should comprise of a man and a woman from either side of the union.

It further recommends that members of the recruitment committee should emanate from the bar associations, public services secretariat, representatives from women, youth and persons with disability while adhering to gender parity.

Section 9 (1) of the proposed National Electoral Commission Bill 2023 reads that should there arise a need to appoint a member or members of the commission, the recruitment commission shall comprise the following persons (a) Chief Justice of the United Republic of Tanzania who will be the Chair, (b) Chief Justice of Zanzibar as the Deputy Chair (c) one member to be appointed by the President by adhering to gender equality.

WILDAF raises concern as the said provision only mentions that the composition can include only one female as there is no guarantee that the Chief Justice in either of sides would be female.  

Other recommendations include a clear definition of words such as gender, sex and persons with disabilities within the bill to ensure the law becomes as inclusive and as gender-sensitive as possible.

Other reservations by WILDAF are on section 18(2) (d) which specifies clearly that the director of NEC must be a civil servant.

“This section be repealed as it segregates people who qualify for the post but are not civil servants,” reads the recommendation.

 In 2023, the government tabled three bills in the National Assembly in a bid to improve the electoral process in the country following outcry by stakeholders.

The three bills that are currently in the public hearing stage apart from the above, are the Presidential, Parliamentarian and Councilors as well as the Political Affairs Bill.

Among the most burning issues in the electoral process has been over the independence of NEC as well as the appointment of district executive officers as returning officers during elections, a situation critics believe that raises doubt over their power to be impartial during the process.

Tanzania is scheduled to conduct local government elections this year and the General Election next year.