The Fallacy of de facto Independent Candidacy in Tanzania: A Rejoinder
The Fallacy of de facto Independent Candidacy in Tanzania: A Rejoinder

Summary/Abstract: The independent candidate question in Tanzania has, since 1992, remained a subject of debate among political parties, judiciary, parliament, executive, the attorney general’s chamber, academics, civil societies, and election observers. The issue of this debate is whether or not independent candidates should be introduced in the electoral system. The ruling party and its government have been against the independent candidates on the ground that it would jeopardize the entire electoral system. The purpose of this article is twofold. First is to present my rejoinder to the issues raised by Frank Mateng’e’s article “Protesting the Independent Candidacy in Tanzania’s Elections: A Bona Fide Cause?” concerning one of my earlier works about the independent candidate issue in Tanzania. Second, I engage the contribution of Mateng’e to the independent candidate debates. This entails also interrogating his concept of “de facto independent candidacy”.

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