It is election time in Tanzania as it is a widely known period. Elections are part of democratic processes which the Tanzanian society is going through. With such spirit, elections are expected to be free, fair and democratic, and above all competitive. Hence, citizen participation in the observation process is paramount. To support the democratic processes in Tanzania, the Tanzania Election Monitoring Committee (TEMCO) and the Tanzania Civil Society Consortium on Election Observation (TACCEO)
have created a coalition known as Coalition on Election Monitoring and Observation in Tanzania: CEMOT. The main objectives of this joint initiative is to enhance citizens’ engagement in the observation and monitoring of the 2015 Tanzania electoral processes in order to determine the extent to which they are credible, free and fair. Specifically, CEMOT is there to enhance citizens’ participation in the oversight of the electoral processes and to improve citizens’ collaborations with the electoral management bodies and relevant authorities in order to deliver reliable feedback and timely responses.
The initial stages to establish CEMOT started in May 2014. It was followed by a series of meetings between partners and development partners. CEMOT started to operate officially in August 2015 and was launched on 2nd September 2015 at the Southern Sun Dar es Salaam Hotel. The ceremony was preceded with the launch of the CEMOT offices located at GEPF Building 7th Floor, Wing B along Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road (opposite Victoria Filling station) in Dar es Salaam. CEMOT is directly supported by Denmark, Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA) and Canada. Other support to CEMOT is through partners: TEMCO and TACCEO who are supported by USID and SIDA respectively.
No comments: