AU mission declares Tanzania’s 2025 elections fell short of democratic standards

The African Union's election observers have delivered a damning verdict on Tanzania's October 2025 general elections, concluding that the polls "did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and international obligations and standards for democratic elections."

Their 46-page preliminary statement paints a bleak picture of a process marred by opposition arrests, ballot-stuffing, violence, and a six-day internet shutdown that crippled communication.

The mission, led by former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, said the environment "was not conducive to peaceful conduct and acceptance of electoral outcomes."

Observers noted that President Samia Suluhu Hassan's administration had failed to implement key constitutional reforms promised after the 2020 vote, including measures to guarantee the independence of the electoral commission and allow legal challenges to presidential results.

Instead, they found "widespread state repression, biased media coverage favouring the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM Party), and a diminished space for opposition politics."

The report urged sweeping constitutional reform and transparent investigations into the post-election violence that left several people dead.

For the AU, the statement marks one of its bluntest assessments of a member state's election in recent years, an implicit rebuke to Dar es Salaam.

As the AU put it, "regular elections without genuine competition and adherence to democratic principles result in voter apathy and ultimately lead to citizens' disengagement from political life."

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