SINOVET polls: A danger to Democracy in Tanzania?

There is a research organization that has emerged very recently in Tanzania. They call themselves an independent research entity. They go by the name SINOVET. They have been releasing their controversial research results every now and then. Their area of research is: 1) Tanzanian political environment and 2) Tanzanian socio-economic status. They normally call press conferences to announce their findings.

When you listen to them you wonder if this is not the government efforts to suppress the opposition parties and stifle the civil societies in Tanzania. Every time they reveal their results they will tell the public how strong the ruling party is compared to other parties. “Our poll indicates that 80 percent of the respondents voted for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) as their favorite political party.” And again, “the likelihood that the incumbent president will win the next election is 78 percent.” What kind of research is this?

After they make public announcement of their ‘research’, the state house will also convene a meeting with the press and tell them how impressed by the SINOVET results it is. Yesterday I heard the state house aide say, “this (SINOVET results) shows you how strong and acceptable the ruling party is and how effective it has been in solving people’s problems.” At that point, I switched off my TV!

This all is done a few months before we enter national general elections. It makes you wonder if SINOVET is anything other than the ruling party’s propaganda arm. Africa!