Electoral violence in Tanzania 1992-2013

The third wave of democratization was accompanied with the rise of electoral violence in Africa. The impact of such violence has been deaths, destruction of property, political instability, state failure and economic deterioration. Tanzania which has been regarded as an “island” of peace for many years is no longer an exception to electoral violence. Against that backdrop, this study took Tanzania as a case of inquiry to answer the question: “how can electoral violence be explained?” Hence, it was set out to explore the causes of electoral violence in Tanzania from 1992 to 2013. To achieve this task, the study employed political approach based on four theories namely: political radicalism, relative deprivation, image and identities as well as neo-patrimonialism to understand electoral violence in its wider perspective. The study relied on document review and interviews to obtain empirical data. It found that the nature of the electoral system, corruption and social cleavages are key factors in explaining electoral violence in the country. Notwithstanding, the study found that Zanzibar exhibits an extreme case whereby social, economic and political cleavages have largely been the factors for electoral violence. The study recommends that there should be a change of the country’s political system, both in theory and practice, to reflect fair competitive politics. As for the social cleavages, the study recommends that the government and other stakeholders should address their root causes and not symptoms. Finally, massive civic education and strong institutions are needed in order to solve the problem of corruption.