Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
A FIVE-MEMBER delegation from the Tanzanian Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is in the country on a study tour.
The team is being led by the IEC head of delegation, Mr Luphingo Japhary Mwasalijonja. Today it met with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials in Harare, who were being led by the chief executive officer, Mr Simbarashe Tongayi.
In an interview, Mr Mwasalijonja said their visit comes after they recently held elections in their country and now they wanted to share notes with their counterparts in Zimbabwe.
“We are very happy to visit Zimbabwe, because it’s just been one year since we held our election in Tanzania, and currently we are preparing for the 2030 election, the next election after five years,” he said.
“And during this period, we want to share with other countries, such as Zimbabwe, on how they manage elections.
“So we are here specifically to learn how they manage the election cycle from demarcation of polling stations, voter registration, nomination of candidates, how they manage campaigns, and finally, how they conduct elections in the polling stations.”
He said they will be in the country for nine days, sharing their experiences on the election process.
“We appreciate the programme that they have shared, starting with the presentation, then going back to the practical, how the election process is conducted at the lower level at the polling station,” he said. “So, this benchmarking and the knowledge sharing aim to improve our election process. And I think even Zimbabwe will benefit from our visit, because we are going to share what we do in our home country. I think that’s the aim of our visit.”
He said there were also several members from their commission that had visited other countries in Africa.
“For example, the other delegate came here in Zimbabwe, and there are other delegates who will visit Lesotho. And maybe we are planning to visit Ghana as well. So if we can, I think there will be enough for benchmarking,” he said.
