Rukwa Police have arrested at least eleven members of Tanzania’s main opposition party, CHADEMA, for allegedly holding an unlawful assembly in Nkasi on Sunday, July 27, 2025. This was reported by the Rukwa Regional Police Commander, Shadrack Masija, on Monday, whereas among those arrested, 7 were men and 4 were women.
While the police did not disclose where the eleven members were arrested, Nkasi Kaskazini MP Aida Khenani told The Chanzo that they were arrested at her home on July 27, 2025. Khenani explained that she was called by the Nkasi Officer Commanding District (OCD) on July 26, 2025, and told that she had made a mistake by holding a rally the previous Saturday, as CHADEMA activities had been suspended by the court.
Khenani said that he told the police that the court ruling had only ordered the Board of Trustees and the party secretary to stop all activities and not her, a member of parliament.
“He [OCD] told me I should not hold a meeting planned on Sunday. I asked him based on what law, and he said we should wait for a court order. I explained to him my role as an MP ceases on August 3, 2025, so I asked him for a letter that explains that he is stopping my meetings and other functions as an MP,” she said.
Khenani told The Chanzo that she was calling the meeting to explain to party members and stakeholders why she would not run again in light of the party’s ‘no reform, no election’ stance. She added that on Sunday, the owner of the venue where the meeting was scheduled, Ngunga Venue, denied them the place following directives. As a result, she called members and adjourned the meeting.
“Following the adjournment of the meeting, some members decided to come to my home to greet their MP. I was not around by then. Police from various areas in Rukwa surrounded my house,” Khenani said.
“Up to now, we do not know the whereabouts of nine people. The RPC should also explain why people at my home were beaten, with some losing consciousness. Since he has called me and I know I have no case to answer, I will appear at the police station,” she added.
Khenani said some people, including her younger sister Winifrida Joseph Khenani, were wounded and taken to the police dispensary, but they were later returned to the police lock-up. Police have also summoned Aida Khenani’s husband, Albeto John Kaliko, for allegedly organizing the unlawful assembly.
The case that led to the suspension of CHADEMA activities is a civil case brought by three CHADEMA members from Zanzibar. The case continued on July 28, 2025, when Judge Hamidu Mwanga delivered his decision on CHADEMA’s application seeking his recusal. The judge denied the application and set the case for July 7, 2025.
“Yesterday, our MP, Aida, was attacked at her home, on the argument that this case is blocking activities. We will sue the OCD personally for what happened in Nkasi; there is nowhere in a civil case where it can justify sending people to attack somebody’s home,” said CHADEMA Vice Chairperson John Heche outside the court.
