PH
Tanzania’s governing CCM party candidate John Magufuli has won the presidential election with 58% of the vote, the electoral commission says.
His main rival Edward Lowassa has rejected the official results that gave him 40% of the ballots cast.
The opposition Ukawa coalition candidate earlier claimed he had won with 62% of the vote.
The elections on Sunday were the most fierce the governing party faced after 54 years in power.
In Zanzibar, elections for the semi-autonomous archipelago’s parliament and president were annulled on Wednesday.
Zanzibar’s election chief Jecha Salum Jecha said the poll had been marred by gross irregularities, including rigging and physical fights between rival election commissioners.
Tanzania’s next president: John Magufuli
- Aged 55, currently works minister
- Nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for driving a programme to build roads across the country
- Has promised change and to improve on the pace of progress laid down by the previous CCM government
- Pledged to end power shortages and exploit Tanzania’s natural gas discoveries
- “My government will put emphasis on fighting corruption, job creation and industrialisation,” he said before the vote
