VZCZCXRO5733
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDR #0635/01 2750351
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010351Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7920
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1004
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3192
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1123
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 2687
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0417

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAR ES SALAAM 000635 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM TZ
SUBJECT: HOTLY CONTESTED BY-ELECTION IN MAINLAND TANZANIA 
 
REF: DAR ES SALAAM 492 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY.  Remote northern Tarime district (bordering Kenya's 
Nyanza Province and Lake Victoria) will elect a new Member of 
Parliament October 12.  The by-election has attracted national 
interest, with the contending parties devoting substantial resources 
to the race.  Even two weeks in advance and despite a substantial 
police presence, tensions have erupted into sporadic violence. 
Embassy will send an observer team in coordination with other 
missions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Tarime district, the northernmost in Mara region, borders 
Kenya to the north and Lake Victoria to the west and has a 
population of approximately 500,000: majority ethnic Kurya 
(Kuria/Bantu) and minority ethnic Luo (Nilotic).  The by-election 
will take place against a background of local violence among Kurya 
clans.  Clashes in August and September, reportedly over 
long-running land issues and marijuana cultivation, resulted in 
several deaths and the burning of houses and granaries.  The 
inter-clan violence appears not to have direct political impact, 
since both candidates, like the former incumbent, have promised to 
end ethnic-based fighting in the district. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The by-election in Tarime came about due to the death of 
charismatic opposition MP, Chacha Wangwe, in July 2008, in a car 
accident (reftel).  The circumstances of Wangwe's death remain 
controversial - there have been various unsubstantiated allegations 
that the death was not accidental.  Roughly two weeks before his 
death, Wangwe had been suspended from his position as vice chairman 
of his party, CHADEMA (Democracy and Development Party), after a 
leadership fight with party Chairman Freeman Mbowe.  Wangwe had 
accused his party publicly of misuse of party resources.  (Lurid 
accusations under such circumstances are the norm.) 
 
¶4. (U) The parties and their candidates: 
 
-- CCM (Party of the Revolution) has ruled Tanzania since 
independence (allowing for a change of name in 1975) and won an 
overwhelming majority of National Assembly seats (206 of 232 
contested) in the 2005 elections.  CCM held the Tarime seat from the 
introduction of multi-party politics in 1992 until 2005.  The CCM 
candidate is Ryoba Kangoye, a Tanzania Revenue Authority official 
who lives in Dar es Salaam.  Kangoye had sought the seat in 2005, 
but was defeated by CCM's then-incumbent in intra-party 
competition. 
 
-- CHADEMA won 5 seats in the 2005 elections on an anti-corruption 
and good governance platform.  Its candidate is Charles Nyanguru, 
Chairman of the Tarime District Council, where CHADEMA has a slim 
majority of seats. 
 
-- Other opposition parties decided to align informally behind the 
CHADEMA candidate, in order to give him a realistic chance of 
winning against CCM.  (NOTE: In addition to his seat in Parliament, 
Wangwe was a ward councilor.  In addition to CCM and CHADEMA, the 
Civic United Front (CUF) - the largest national opposition party - 
and smaller parties have fielded candidates to fill that vacancy. 
END NOTE.) 
 
¶5.  (U) Despite CCM's vast parliamentary majority, the party is 
making a major push to win back the Tarime seat.  CCM national 
leadership, including the party's Vice Chairman and General 
Secretary, have been campaigning in Tarime.  Leaders of CHADEMA have 
also spent prolonged periods in the district.  (NOTE: In February 
2008, another by-election took place without significant disruption 
and with less national attention.  However, that election, in 
Manyara region, saw CCM easily maintain its hold on a seat left 
vacant by the death of a lesser-known CCM backbencher. END NOTE.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Tensions appear to be on the increase in Tarime as the 
election approaches.  A police contingent of over 400 officers has 
taken residence in Tarime town with a mandate to maintain order. 
The major parties have traded claims that the other is creating 
disturbances.  The CCM Vice Chairman reportedly said he would call 
on President Kikwete to deploy military forces.  CHADEMA has claimed 
some of its members have been arbitrarily arrested by the police, 
and has accused the GOT of interfering on CCM's behalf.  Police have 
arrested several people for violence, including for attacks on a 
CHADEMA campaign van and for throwing rocks at the leader of a small 
opposition party who asserted publicly that Wangwe's death was not 
accidental.  There have also been arrests, including of a police 
officer, for attempting to buy or sell voting cards. 
 
¶7. (U) Embassy will field a team to observe election practices in 
Tarime, in coordination with several EU countries and Canada.  In 
addition, the UK will lead a group of Chiefs of Mission to the 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000635  002 OF 002 
 
 
district a week ahead of the by-election, to carry the message that 
the international community expects the by-election to be conducted 
freely and fairly.  CDA will join that effort along with a mix of 
European, Asian and African missions from Community of Democracies 
countries.  The British High Commissioner reports that the National 
Electoral Commission (NEC) has warmly welcomed the visit of the COMs 
to Tarime. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Poloff recently called on NEC Director of Elections Rajaab 
Kiravu.  Kiravu said the NEC was prepared for the Tarime by-election 
on the management side: an updated and validated voter list and 
balloting materials would be ready in time.  However, he criticized 
the campaigns as "lacking tolerance."