Tanzania’s judiciary ready for post-election petitions
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Wednesday, August 5, 2015
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danielmjema.blogspot.com
4 August, 2015, Dar es Salaam—Tanzania’s judiciary affirmed it was prepared to swiftly resolve
any likely electoral disputes which may arise from the forthcoming general
elections in the country, following the end of a series of sensitization
seminars on Electoral Dispute Resolution (EDR) organized with the support
of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
According to statements coming out at the end of the seminars, the judiciary affirmed that it stood
ready to hear electoral cases independently, and to dispense justice
decisively without fear or influence.
In total, more than 100 currently serving justices of the Court of
Appeal and High Court of Tanzania and their counterparts from Zanzibar
benefited from three seminars, which were tailor-made to familiarize
the Judiciary with the unique task that faces them in the coming months,
and to provide them with the best available international experiences.
The seminars provided an opportunity for the Judiciary to familiarize
itself with the electoral laws and procedures, assess its own capacities
to manage future electoral disputes, review its own experiences in resolving
past electoral disputes, and to share experiences with other countries
in dispute resolution. The seminars benefitted from experience
sharing with judges from Kenya and Ghana where the judiciary was put
to test in resolving complex presidential election petitions following
elections in those two countries in recent years.
Speaking at the last seminar held from 3-4 August in Dar es Salaam,
Justice of Appeal Hon. Edward Rutakangwa, said High Court judges are
expected by the law as amended to dispose electoral petitions within
12 months while the Court of Justice has also another 12 months to complete
all appeals.
Paying tribute to the UNDP for having empowered the judiciary not only to be competent
but also technically proficient in handling electoral disputes, he urged
judges who will be handling the anticipated election petitions, to live
up to the challenges of this task.
“You should remember, at every stage, that failure to do so entails
the risk of an election outcome which will not be representative of
the will of the electorate as well as a threat to our long standing
political stability and democratic governance,” Hon. Rutakangwa said.
“A vital part of any election which makes the entire process indisputably credible, is the opportunity for both contesting candidates
and voters to seek a peaceful, fair and speedy resolution of all disputes
arising during the entire election process,” he added. “There is
no gainsaying, in my opinion that fairness and legitimacy of elections
solely depend on the country's effective EDR mechanisms of which in
our case the Judiciary, that is, our courts and the National Electoral
Commission are undeniably important and indispensable components.”
Addressing the event, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative
Mr. Alvaro Rodriguez revealed that beyond this series of sensitization
workshops, UNDP was planning to conduct a study on Tanzania’s experience
in resolving electoral disputes since the 2010 elections.
“We hope this study which will soon be underway will contribute
to knowledge production on EDR in the country and will lay a firm foundation
for fostering EDR-related reform, especially in the context of the new
national constitution when it comes into force,” Mr. Rodriguez added.
All the seminars were organized under the aegis of the Democratic
Empowerment Project (DEP), a three-year electoral cycle based program
managed by UNDP through a multi-donor fund supported by Canada, DFID,
Denmark, European Union, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
and the UN (One Fund). The project aims to strengthen the credibility
and capacity of key institutions of democracy in Tanzania to effectively
implement their election and political function.
Beyond support to the
NEC and ZEC and political parties in relation to their respective role
of contributing to democratic elections, DEP is also supporting the
Police to foster increased election security and with civil society,
media and the Registrar of Political Parties to promote a democratic
environment in the country.
Given the high level and technical nature of the workshops, the facilitation
team also consisted of senior officials from the NEC, ZEC, the Registrar
of Political Parties, the Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), as
well as representation from the Tanzania Women Judges Association (TAWJA).
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