Tanzania's Magufuli leads presidential race as opposition cries foul

Tanzania's President John Magufuli addresses his supporters during his campaign rally at the Tanganyika Parkers Grounds in Kawe in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. [Reuters]

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli is leading the presidential election count, preliminary results showed on Friday, after a contest this week dismissed by the opposition as a “travesty” of a poll due to widespread irregularities.

Magufuli’s CCM party, a version of which has held power in Tanzania since independence from Britain in 1961, has already retained power in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar with 76% of the vote.