Tanzanian ruling party’s candidate John Magufuli won hotly contested presidential elections.
Officials announced final results on Thursday, but the opposition claimed the vote was rigged and also declared victory.
The win by Magufuli with over 58 percent of votes cements the long-running Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party’s firm grip on power, ruling Tanzania since 1977.
His running mate Samia Suluhu Hassan will become Tanzania’s first ever female vice president.
But tensions are high amid deep concern at opposition claims of rigging, as well as the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago’s decision to annul polls.
The elections were the hardest fought electoral race in the nation’s history, with the opposition providing the first credible challenge to the CCM since the introduction of multi-party democracy.
