Opposition candidate cleared to contest Tanzania presidency after court order

Tanzania's national electoral commission on Saturday accepted the nomination papers of Luhaga Mpina, a senior politician from the second largest opposition party, enabling him to contest next month's presidential election following a court order.

A high court ruling on Thursday overturned a previous decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that had prevented Mpina from lodging his electoral nomination papers after he was disqualified.

His disqualification meant incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has been in office since March 2021, would potentially face opposition only from smaller parties in the October 29 election.

Mpina, who is the top candidate for the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo) party, successfully challenged the decision to disqualify him by the Office of Registrar of Political Parties, citing complaints that his party had failed to comply with nomination procedures.

CHADEMA disqualified