Tarime — Jubilant Chadema supporters painted the town blue as they celebrated convincing victories over the ruling CCM in the poll which saw Mr Charles Mwera and Mr John Heche win the parliamentary and civic seats, respectively.

Mr Mwera polled 34,545 votes against 28,938 votes garnered by CCM's Ryoba Kangoye.

Chadema supporters said they cast their votes in anger after CCM officials branded them hooligans during campaign. Shortly before the results were announced, thousands of Chadema supporters took to the streets chanting slogans and waving posters and branches.

Their expectations were confirmed when the returning officer, Mr Trasias Kagenzi, read out the results.

"Chama cha wahuni kimechukua (the party of the hooligans has won)," the supporters were heard chanting as they marched towards Tarime District Council offices after the results were officially announced at around 11.00am.

The also had a placard mocking CCM secretary-general Yusuf Makamba with the words, "Makamba, wahuni was Tarime ni soo (Makamba, Tarime hooligans are a force to be reckoned with)".

Unveiling their campaigns three weeks ago, CCM officials led by Mr Makamba said the party would not waste time in wooing "hooligans in Tarime Town and other areas in the district". Chadema deputy secretary-general Zitto Kabwe said the people of Tarime had shown that Tarime was a chadema zone.

Party chairman Freeman Mbowe said the victory was Tarime residents' Nyerere Day present to Tanzanians as the country today marks the ninth anniversary of the death of Tanzania's founding president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

Tarime residents who voted for Chadema gave various reasons for doing so.

"I did not vote for CCM because the party has ruled for over 40 years without bringing about any meaningful development," said Neema Mwita.

"Chadema has been able to provide us with free education in just three years they have held the parliamentary seat," she added.

Ms Mwita said CCM made a "serious" mistake by linking Chadema to the death of the former MP, Mr Chacha Wangwe, during campaigns.

Mr Chacha Samson said CCM was embracing nepotism, adding that this was the main reason that prompted him to vote for Chadema.

"I am a Form Six leaver and jobless, yet the council is full of bogus staff, including accountants," he said.

He accused the CCM government for entering into dubious contracts with mining firms, which were stealing tones of the country's precious stones.

"It pains a lot to see the Government putting in place barriers to prevent us from selling our rice and other crops despite that it is te free market economy era," he said.

Chadema's victory indicated that Tarime residents had trust in the opposition party, Mr Kabwe declared.

"Tarime residents were satisfied with the performance of our party, not that of CCM, which is marred by corruption," he said, adding that Chadema were repay Tarime residents by representing them effectively in Parliament.

Another Chadema leader, Dr Kingwitu Ben Kapwani, said Chadema had embarked on an operation dubbed "sangara" aimed at wooing more supporters countrywide.

The same party's efforts in Tarime would in the near future be employed for the operation to begin in Mwanza before moving to other Lake Zone regions, he elaborated. "Shame on the CCM government.

If those bombed were CCM supporters, police officers would guard them as the supporters celebrate their victory," he said.

Dr Kapwani said the police force was to blame and that it should be scathed for giving foreign observers a bad impression of election processes in the country.

He commended the National Electoral Commission for overseeing the by-election fairly, despite a few discrepancies.

He called on the commission not to accept the influx of law enforcers next time.

Mr Kabwe said Chadema's victory was historic as it was the first time it has won a by-election.

"Residents of Tarime and Tanzanians at large should expect hard work and not continued celebration," he said.

The newly elected Tarime ward councilor, Mr Peter Eche, said the secret behind his party's victory was selling alternative policies required to rescue voters from oppressive and corrupt leadership.

He said over a billion shillings spent by CCM on the by-election could be judiciously used for improving social services instead of hiring two choppers from Titan Air Limited of Kenya and bribing voters whose decision was firm.

Meanwhile, CCM secretary-general Yusuf Makamba conceded defeat at a news conference in Mwanza.

He said CCM had failed in its endeavour to unseat and weaken Chadema in Tarime.

Mr Makamba congratulated the people of Tarime on exercising their democratic rights by electing the candidate of their choice. He did not, however, rule out the possibility of CCM's defeated candidate challenging his loss in court.