DAR ES SALAAM, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania said on Wednesday it planned to spend 82.9 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 36 million U.S. dollars) for the forthcoming local elections.
Mwita Waitara, the Deputy Minister in the President's Office responsible for Regional Administration and Local Government, told parliament in capital Dodoma that preparations for the polls, including buying electoral facilities, were now underway.
Waitara was answering a Member of Parliament for Mtambale constituency, Masoud Abdallah Salim, who wanted to know preparations being taken by the government for the local polls.
Waitara said the government has already prepared regulations to be used for the elections and training of officials who will oversee the polls.
"Preparations for the polls are in full gear and there is no cause for alarm," the official told the House.
In April this year, Tanzanian Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Palamagamba Kabudi warned individuals and political parties against involvement in electoral fraud in local polls to be held later this year and the general elections in 2020.
Kabudi made the warning at the official opening of a meeting in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam on how to control electoral fraud in the forthcoming local polls.
Kabudi urged the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau to deal accordingly with individuals or political parties implicated in electoral fraud.
A statement issued by the ministry's information and communication unit quoted Kabudi as saying that the fifth administration under President John Magufuli will never tolerate electoral fraud.
