What you need to know about Tanzania's election

How does Tanzania's electoral system work?

Tanzania has a first-past-the-post system, with the president and vice president jointly and directly elected via simple majority popular vote. They serve five-year terms, which are renewable once.

The October 29, 2025, election is a little unusual because current President Samia Suluhu Hassan is competing in her first presidential election. She took over as president upon the death of President John Magufuli in 2021. Samia, the first woman to lead Tanzania, was his deputy.

Tanzania has a special relationship with the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, off the coast to the east. While the mainland and Zanzibar have formed the United Republic of Tanzania since 1964, the territories have considerable differences in populations, colonial history, religious makeup and economy.

For example, Zanzibar's population counts for approximately 1.9 million out of Tanzania's total population of 68 million. Around 98 per cent of Zanzibaris are Muslim, while around 63 per cent of Tanzanians in total are Christians.

As such, of the 264 members of parliament directly elected to represent constituencies, 214 are reserved for the mainland and 50 for Zanzibar. Women are allocated 113 additional seats in parliament, and are indirectly chosen by their respective parties.

Who could take the presidency?

Seventeen candidates and their parties are officially running. However, Samia of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party is the only nationally recognised candidate, and the two main opposition parties, Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo (Alliance for Change and Transparency), have been barred.

Major candidates from both parties have also been banned from standing for election.

Key concerns for voters

Tanzania has made significant strides in building roads, power lines, rail and internet access, but there's still a considerable gulf between rural communities and growing urban areas.

Service delivery — from access to clean water to reliable electricity — and a gap in educational and employment opportunities are key issues for voters. Some say that despite close to five decades of rule, the CCM has not delivered on promises.

Tanzania is East Africa's most populous nation, and demographic trends place the country among the fastest-growing populations globally.

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• President Samia Suluhu Hassan
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• Tundu Lissu
• Chama Cha Mapinduzi
• John Magufuli
• CCM party
• Humphrey Hesron Polepole
• What you need to know about Tanzania's election
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Young, upwardly mobile voters are increasingly making their voices heard. But concerns persist over voter apathy, or reluctance to vote, because the CCM has stifled dissent.

How previous elections have gone

An intriguing prospect is how the 2025 election will reflect Samia's standing within her own party, and how its politicians jostle for position.

The CCM has effectively been in power since Tanzania's independence from Britain in 1961. It is considered the party of Julius Nyerere, still a figure held in high regard. Analysts see the CCM as the last of Africa's liberation era parties still competing and dominating elections.

From 1977 to 1992, Tanzania was a one-party state, with CCM, essentially a merger of the Tanganyika National Union and the Zanzibari Afro-Shirazi Party, holding sway.

Chadema's best election result came in 2015 when its presidential candidate, Edward Lowassa, won almost 40 per cent of the vote, lagging behind Magufuli's 58 per cent. In 2020, the opposition party saw its vote share shrink to just 13 per cent, with its leaders claiming voting irregularities.

Opposition suppressed

President Samia was praised after coming to power in 2021 for easing repression of political opponents and censorship of the media, which had become associated with Magufuli's legacy. In 2023, she lifted his ban on opposition-led rallies, and she has been hailed for a number of reforms.

However, Samia is now facing growing criticism over the alleged state-sanctioned abductions and arrests of human rights activists and opposition politicians. Chadema leader Tundu Lissu is on trial for treason, after his arrest this past April while calling for electoral reforms.

Humphrey Hesron Polepole, a vocal government critic and the former Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba, went missing in October. Senior Chadema official Ali Mohamed Kibao was abducted in September 2024 and found dead.

In the run-up to the 2025 vote, Human Rights Watch has warned of "deepening repression" threatening the election, while Amnesty International said it had documented "systemic human rights violations" by authorities, which include "enforced disappearance and torture" and "extrajudicial killings of opposition figures and activists."