A majority of Tanzanians have endorsed President John Magufuli’s leadership style in a new opinion poll.

The pollster, Twaweza, established that 58 per cent of Tanzanians do not consider President Magufuli a dictator while 11 per cent of those polled believe he is. The remaining 30 per cent of those polled were undecided.

When asked about their understanding of “dictatorship,” 34 per cent said they didn’t know while 6 per cent of those who attempted to answer, understood it to be “discrimination.”

The findings show that 2 per cent of the population thought dictatorship referred to bad leadership, 2 per cent thought it means lack of freedom and 6 per cent “were too distant from correct answers.”

Three per cent of respondents thought dictatorship meant a leader who ignores the law, 15 per cent said it is about one man who makes all decisions and 32 per cent understood it to be a leader who uses excessive force.

When asked a specific question about whether they feel they can criticise the current administration more than they did in the previous administration, 60 per cent responded in the affirmative. 

Only 43 per cent of Tanzanians think that opposition parties should be allowed to hold rallies and protests while the majority said they should be prohibited during non-election periods.

When responding to a specific question on whether they support the ban on political rallies made by President Magufuli June, 60 per cent said they support it, 33 per cent opposed it and 7 per cent were neutral.

Before launching the report, Twaweza executive director Aidan Eyakuze gave the audience which was drawn from academia, media and leaders of political parties, an opportunity to answer similar questions through their smartphones.

The questions were to be found on a website page reached through a secret code and the results were displayed on a screen after the launch ceremony.

Interestingly, majority of the audience (58 per cent) who were polled said they believe Tanzania is currently being led by a dictator.

On whether citizens should be allowed to criticise the government when they believe it has done something wrong, 100 per cent said yes they should be allowed.

Seventy one per cent of those who voted supported opposition’s calls for political rallies and protests without restrictions to an election calendar.

On whether they feel they can without fear criticise the current administration more than they did in the previous administration, 83 per cent disagreed with the statement. Only 17 per cent of the respondents compared with 60 per cent in the main survey felt that it is safer to criticise the government now than in the previous administration.   

The survey indicated that 80 per cent of Tanzanians think that once elections are over the opposition should accept defeat and support the elected leaders while 20 per cent think after losing elections opposition parties should check and hold the government accountable.