Tanzania: Court Throws Out Poll Petition Against Slaa
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Zephania Ubwani, Arusha
Dr Wilibroad Slaa of Chadema and his advocate, Mr Tundu Lissu (in suit), are carried by jubilant supporters in Arusha yesterday after the High Court struck out a petition challenging Dr Slaa's election as the Karatu MP.
Court throws out poll petition against Slaa
The ruling CCM yesterday failed to dislodge the Opposition Chadema from the Karatu parliamentary seat after Dr Willibrod Slaa defeated a petition challenging his election in 2005.
There was joy and hugging outside the High Court premises here when Judge Robert Makaramba declared Dr Slaa the lawful winner of the polls in which he narrowly defeated CCM's Patrick Tsere.
The verdict brought to an end the petition filed by three supporters of the CCM candidate immediately after the results of the 2005 elections were announced.
The petitioners - Joseph Haimu, Thomas Arafai and Emmanuel Bura - had alleged that the polls were fraught with malpractices and that the returning officer failed in his duties.
However, Judge Makaramba said in his in his judgment, which lasted nearly three hours, that the allegations had no basis in law, adding that the Chadema candidate was the rightful winner of the hotly contested seat.
He said that the alleged malpractices seen could have been caused by "mathematical errors" in the tallying of votes, adding that this could have affected both candidates.
According to the 2005 parliamentary election results in Karatu constituency - an opposition stronghold since 1995 - Dr Slaa got 34,795 while Mr Tsere polled 33,692 of the votes cast.
CCM, through the three petitioners, had challenged the results, saying its candidate garnered 34,931 votes against Chadema's 34,754.
Judge Makaramba said there were mathematical errors in the tallying of votes, but maintained that even if CCM were to get back the omitted votes, Chadema would still be ahead.
Dr Slaa's advocate in the case, Mr Tundu Lissu, said 876 votes were not included in CCM's total while Chadema had 733 vote omitted from its tally.
Speaking to reporters later yesterday, he said votes omitted during the counting exercise could not change Dr Slaa's position against the CCM candidate.
The High Court chambers were filled to capacity by supporters of the two parties while the compound in the normally quiet Uzunguni area of Arusha was full of people eager to hear the outcome of the petition.
Some people followed proceedings from the windows of the High Court buildings. Dr Slaa's car, sporting a small flag used by serving MPs, was parked at the entrance of the compound.
Mr Tsere, currently the Ilala District Commissioner, was conspicuously absent as Judge Makaramba read the 75-page judgment amid tight security in the court precincts.
Dr Slaa was seated in the court chambers from as early as 10am surrounded by his supporters and appeared calm as the verdict was being delivered.
Dozens of CCM officials from Karatu District were also present at the courthouse before the judgment was read out but were nowhere to be seen after Judge Makaramba struck out the petition with costs.
Chadema carried Dr Slaa and Mr Lissu shoulder-high after the court delivered its verdict.
The petitioners' advocate, Mr Ezram Mwaluko, expressed his surprise and hinted that his clients could appeal.
"All irregularities in the elections have been attributed to CCM and its agents. We are surprised by this I cannot rule out an appeal," he told The Citizen.
The petitioners also alleged that the poll was flawed with many other irregularities such as the tallying of "phantom" votes and the use of fake ballot papers.
They cited Mango'la and Bara wards as well as Mbulumbulu and Kambi ya Simba villages as areas where alleged election fraud was rampant at polling stations.
Court throws out poll petition against Slaa
By Zephania Ubwani, Arusha
Relevant Links
The ruling CCM yesterday failed to dislodge the Opposition Chadema from the Karatu parliamentary seat after Dr Willibrod Slaa defeated a petition challenging his election in 2005.
|
Read comments. Write your own.
|
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Make allAfrica.com your home page
|
RSS Feed
Sign up for FREE daily 'top headlines' by email >> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | My Account | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
