DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) --Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Tuesday assured diplomats based in the east African nation of peaceful, free and fair October 2020 general elections.
Addressing the diplomats at a party to welcome the 2020 New Year at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Magufuli said international observers will be welcome to witness how Tanzania was maturing democratically.
Over 20 million Tanzanians out of a population of 55 million will vote for councilors, parliamentarians in the general elections.
Magufuli thanked ambassadors and heads of international organizations accredited to Tanzania for supporting economic reforms pioneered by his administration.
The president appealed to the diplomats to continue supporting the reforms aimed at making the country attain middle income status by 2025.
He pledged to continue with efforts aimed at making the country a conducive place for investing and doing business.
"I am appealing to you to continue encouraging investors in your respective countries to come and invest in Tanzania," said Magufuli.
Magufuli mentioned a catalogue of achievements that the country has recorded in the past four years of his administration, including implementation of flagship projects and provision of free education, improved health delivery, improved earnings from the mining sector and promotion of tourism.
Last week, Tanzania's ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), predicted a landslide victory in the October 2020 general elections.
Bashiru Ally, CCM's Secretary General, said sound implementation of the party's manifesto by the current government was a sure ticket to winning the forthcoming general elections.
Addressing leaders of the party in the east African nation's western region of Kigoma, Ally said winning elections entailed long-time preparations like what the governing party was doing.
Last week, the state-run National Electoral Commission (NEC) said in a statement this week the updating of the voter registration which started on July 18, 2019, in the Kilimanjaro region has already covered 146 districts and 205 constituencies from the 25 regions in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
In January 2019, Anthony Mavunde, the Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office responsible for Parliamentary Affairs, Labor, Employment, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, told parliament that four million new voters were expected to be registered during the updating of the voter registration.
Tanzania conducted its last general elections on October 25, 2015, when about 23.7 million voters were registered, according to the national electoral body. Enditem
