Tanzania's High By-Election Spending Questioned

The cost of the last three parliamentary by-elections has exceeded the amount spent on the 2015 general elections four times over.

According to a recent report the Treasury allocated Sh12.4 billion for three by-elections held in September 2018, or around Sh4.1 billion per constituency. The figure is more than four times the average Sh991 spent on each constituency during the 2015 general elections.

The Head of the Communications Department at the Finance and Planning Ministry Benny Mwaipaja has confirmed the allocation but claims that only the electoral commission could confirm whether the full amount had been spent.

 The high requirement has been questioned, particularly in light of the fact that the National Electoral Commission has various polling equipment already in place from the 2015 polls. Opposition MP David Silinde has described the spending as "a waste of resources; outright misuse of public resources... the consequences of voraciousness and selfish MPs who swopped parties."