Citing irregularities, the Tanzanian has moved to court to have the federation’s August elections stopped
Tanzania Football Federation presidential hopeful Ally Salehe has begun a campaign to fundraise Tsh25 million as part of the legal fees for the case he lodged at the High Court seeking to stop the August 8 elections.
Salehe was among the aspirants who were not cleared to run for TFF’s top seat in the initial nomination process and he moved to court to seek redress against a process he claims was not done according to the set election procedures.
So far, Wallace Karia, the incumbent, is the only candidate remaining after other contestants were not cleared to run.
What has been said?
“This case is not mine, it is not about me as Salehe,” Salehe said, according to Mwanaspoti. “I am here to defend the rights of the members of the public and, for that reason, it would not be wrong if they help fundraise legal fees for my lawyers.
“So far I have received Tsh15 million and I am happy that members of the public have pledged to support this course.”
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Earlier in the campaign
Salehe has been one of the outstanding critics of Karia and, in one instance, he called on the elections board to take action against the incumbent, claiming he had started a campaign early outside the set window. Salehe claimed the TFF’s president took advantage of the U20 Premier League final between Mtibwa Sugar and Yanga to market his candidacy.
At the event held in June at the Chamazi Sports Complex outside Dar es Salaam, he alleges some fans were spotted wearing T-shirts carrying campaign messages in support of Karia.
“Were it not an electioneering period, there could have been no issue with those people wearing such T-shirts, but now we are campaigning for seats and, thus, it was a wrong move,” Salehe said.
“How can one run a campaign when the time for it has not been declared open? If the disciplinary committee is keen on serving justice, then action must be taken against Karia.”
Salehe hopes to persuade the court to stop the elections. However, Karia could be announced as the winner of the presidential contest after election vice-chair Benjamin Karume confirmed no one else was in the race apart from the incumbent.
