President Samia Hassan approved for Tanzania’s October vote

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been approved to stand in October’s presidential election.

It's Hassan's first time running for the presidency. She assumed the office following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli in 2021. 

After her nomination was cleared, Hassan shared a post on X urging her Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party to "maintain unity to ensure victory for our party and for God's permission to return to serve citizens".

She’s facing a field clear of her main rivals after the country’s electoral commission on Wednesday disqualified the candidate of the second largest opposition party.  

Luhaga Mpina of the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo) was barred over complaints that the party had failed to comply with nomination procedures in the primaries. 

Mpina, a government critic and a former ruling party member of the East African country's parliament, defected from CCM earlier this month.

"This decision is not only shameful but it is raising more questions about the integrity, seriousness, professionalism and the independence of the electoral commission," Ado Shaibu, ACT-Wazalendo's Secretary General, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Leading opposition party CHADEMA was disqualified in April after it failed to sign the electoral code of conduct as part of its call for electoral reform.  

CHADEMA chairman Tundu Lissu has been in jail for over four months after being charged with treason early in April. He has denied the charges.

Lissu's detention and the unexplained abductions of government critics in recent months have shone a spotlight on Hassan's human rights record. Hassan says her government is committed to respecting human rights.

Nominations for presidential candidates closed on Wednesday.