On August 30 – September 5 2015, a team from the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC) undertook a pre-election Goodwill Mission to the United Republic of Tanzania. The purpose of the Mission was to assess the country’s level of readiness and preparedness to hold General Elections on 25 October 2015. The SEAC members that participated on this mission were Advocate Leshele Abel Thoahlane from the Kingdom of Lesotho and Advocate Gertrude Mukuwa Imbwae from the Republic of Zambia. These pre-election Goodwill Missions are carried out each time a SADC Member State is scheduled to hold General Elections. While in Tanzania, the SEAC delegation engaged electoral stakeholders on issues related to the country’s electoral processes and activities being undertaken to prepare for the upcoming elections. Some of the stakeholders they met included the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), the Office of the Attorney General, officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs – Tanzania Police Force, Human Rights Commission, the Registrar of Political Parties, and some representatives of political parties, civil society organisations, and members of the media. The SEAC delegation also paid a courtesy call on Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internal Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania.
