Chaos erupted in Mwanza city and some other lake zone districts Monday as youths protested at the delay in the announcement of election results.

Two vehicles belonging to the Ilemela deputy returning officer Paulo Masangu were burnt using a petrol bomb on Monday. Ten other cars had their windows smashed with stones as thousands of opposition supporters in Ilemela and Nyamagana constituencies demanded immediate release of results.

Anti-riot police were forced to lob tear gas canisters to disperse the crowds that, however, overwhelmed them. This led to nearly 40 minutes of a cat-and-mouse chase along the streets. A section of the chanting opposition supporters attempted to break a gate to gain entry into the Mwanza municipal offices, where the National Electoral Commission (NEC) officials were counting and tallying the results.

No NEC official released any results, even to waiting journalists, with reports saying the delay was being attributed to errors in the tallying. Chadema party candidates Ezekiel Wenje (Nyamagana) and Highness Simon (Ilemela) were also locked up in the offices. Efforts to cool their supporters had earlier been unsuccessful.

The rioters claim they have won the two seats formerly held by Home Affairs minister Laurence Masha and CCM lawmaker for Ilemela and former Trade minister Anthony Diallo.

Reports of clashes with the police were also reported in areas like Tandale in Dar es Salaam, Kahama, Arusha, Busanda, Tarime and Zanzibar for the better part of the morning and late afternoon on Monday.

In Busanda, the supervisor for Butundwe polling centre in Nyakagomba ward, Mr Frank Mgeta, 26, and his assistant were seriously beaten, allegedly by political hooligans who were celebrating their party’s win of the seat.

In Dar es Salaam, the Tandika bus stand and street were turned into a battlefield as baton-wielding policemen clashed with Civic United Front (CUF) supporters who rejected the win by CCM’s Zena Mgaya.