Uchaguzi: Monitoring the Tanzania Elections

Ushahidi is excited to announce it’s deployment of Uchaguzi TZ, an elections monitoring program for Tanzania's October 31st national elections. The platform has built off the successes of Uchaguzi Kenya to include 2,000 monitors in Tanzania, 30,000 trusted sources, plus messages from the crowd. Uchaguzi TZ’s shortcode is 15540, and we’ve already started receiving and mapping messages a week before the election. Check out the map as it continues to fill up with reports in the lead-up to the elections this Sunday! Uchaguzi TZ is a joint project of Ushahidi and Sodnet from Kenya, as well as TACCEO, which is comprised of a number of local Tanzanian organizations and led by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) from Tanzania.

How You Can Get Involved

We are relying on volunteers from Tanzania, Kenya, and globally to help us map the incoming reports, and because of the large volume of messages we expect to receive, we are currently in need of volunteers – in Tanzania, Kenya, and remotely – with basic tech knowledge or with previous with Ushahidi to help us map and respond to reports. If you are interested and able to volunteer with us on election day, October 31st, sign up using this Google Spreadsheet! While we’ve had a wonderful media team working to spread the word about Uchaguzi TZ in Tanzania, we can also use your help in letting your friends and family know to text 15540 with any information about the Tanzanian elections.