Zanzibar: Delimitation of constituencies

Updated November 2010

See also Tanzania: Delimitation of constituencies.

Extracted from: Grant Masterson 2009 "Chapter 13: Tanzania and Zanzibar" IN Denis Kadima and Susan Booysen (eds) Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa 1989-2009: 20 Years of Multiparty Democracy, EISA, Johannesburg, 522, 523.

In Zanzibar, the delimitation of constituencies is described under the Zanzibar Constitution of 1984, Section 120(1), which requires that not less than 40 and not more than 55 constituencies are created during an election. Each constituency should have approximately equal numbers of voters, although this is not a binding requirement, as the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) can determine any suitable figure for a particular constituency after considering the following factors (ZEC 1996, 5):

  • the number of people in the constituency;
  • population explosion;
  • means of communication; and
  • administrative boundaries.

One of the biggest concerns as regards the delimitation of constituencies in Tanzania relates to the large discrepancies between the size of constituencies in Zanzibar and those on the mainland. Zanzibar's population of a little more than 1 million persons entitles it to 50 representatives in the Union National Assembly (a ratio of 1 seat: 20 000 citizens), while the nearly 37 million citizens in Tanzania in 2005 were split into 232 constituencies, giving the mainland a representative ratio of 1 seat:160 000 citizens (Population Reference Bureau 2005). This weighting gives Zanzibari citizens a disproportionate amount of influence in Union matters in comparison to citizens on the mainland, highlighting one of the unusual accommodations of Zanzibar's status within the Union.

2010 Addendum

Constituencies were not redelimited for the 2010 election (ZEC 2010).

References

POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU 2005 2005 World Population Data Sheet of the Population Reference Bureau, Population Reference Bureau publication.

ZANZIBAR ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC) 1996 Zanzibar Electoral Commission's Report for the General Election of the 22nd October 1995.

ZANZIBAR ELECTORAL COMMISSION (ZEC) 2010 "Briefing for International and Local Observers", 28 October, Media, Observers and Results Centre, Bwawani Hotel, Zanzibar.