Tanzania: Magufuli celebrates victory
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli was re-elected for a second, five-year term, securing a landslide victory in a contest that has been dismissed by the opposition as a “travesty” due to widespread irregularities.
Magufuli got 12.5 million votes in Wednesday’s vote on October 28, or 84%, according to the calculations mentioned in press outlets, more than 10 million more votes than his main challenger, Tundu Lissu of the Chadema party, who got 1.9 million votes, the National Electoral Commission said.
In his bid for a second term, Magufuli has promised voters that he will pay a special attention to the economy by completing ambitious infrastructure projects he started in his first term, such as a new hydropower dam, a rail-line and planes for the national carrier.
Lissu has previously said that he will not accept the eventual election results.
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, said on Friday, “we remain deeply concerned about reports of systematic interference in the democratic process.”