Dar es Salaam. With just 51 days remaining until the country’s General Election on October 29, 2025, political parties are deep into their campaigns, promoting their manifestos and courting voters for presidential, parliamentary, and local council positions.
The incumbent party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), which has held power for over six decades, launched its campaign first in Dar es Salaam on August 24, 2025. It has since been campaigning across the nation for its presidential candidate, incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and her running mate, Emmanuel Nchimbi.
Various opposition parties have also launched their presidential campaigns, attempting to differentiate their platforms from CCM’s record and promise a new direction if elected. These parties include the Tanzania Labour Party (TLP), Chama cha Kijamii (CCK), MAKINI party, and the National League for Democracy (NLD).
However, for a visitor arriving in Tanzania today, the reality of a multi-party competitive election would be difficult to discern. The vast majority of campaign billboards feature only one candidate: Samia Suluhu Hassan alongside her running mate. The visibility of any opposing candidate is extremely minimal, if any at all.
In a development that has sparked significant domestic debate, some politicians officially running against President Samia have taken the unusual step of publicly praising her instead of criticising her platform.
“I want to congratulate her, and please don’t hate me for this, our mother, our President, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, for safeguarding the peace of our country,” said Khamis Faki, the vice-presidential candidate for the UDP party, at his campaign launch in Mwanza on September 1, 2025.
David Mwaijojile, presidential candidate for CCK, echoed this sentiment on September 3, 2025, stating, “I thank the government, I also thank the President, our sister—I call her sister, you call her mother—Samia Suluhu Hassan, for giving this opportunity [for us to contest] because she remains the leader until another President is found, even though she is also in the race.”
CHADEMA in crisis
While this unfolds, the nation’s main opposition party, CHADEMA, finds itself fighting for survival rather than competing for votes. The party, which provided the most significant challenge to CCM in the 2010, 2015, and 2020 elections, is now sidelined from the presidential race amid a severe legal and governmental crackdown.
The party’s internal crisis began immediately after a contentious leadership election on January 22, 2025, where Tundu Lissu defeated the long-serving incumbent chairperson, Freeman Mbowe, ending his 21-year rule.
Shortly thereafter, a former member, Lembruce Mchome, petitioned the Registrar of Political Parties—a government-appointed official—to investigate the January 22 meeting. He alleged that the meeting lacked a legal quorum and that the subsequent appointments to the party’s secretariat were therefore illegitimate.
On May 13, 2025, the Registrar agreed, nullifying the appointments of the party’s Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, and Chief Legal Officer, among others. The Registrar ordered CHADEMA to convene a new National Congress to re-appoint its leadership legally. The party did not do so but kept the nullified leaders in acting roles.
Although the High Court overturned the Registrar’s decision on August 28, 2025, the Registrar’s Office has publicly stated it is unaware of the court’s order and will not comply until formally served, leaving the party in a state of legal limbo.
Prior to this, on April 12, 2025, CHADEMA had refused to sign the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Code of Conduct. The INEC interpreted this as a voluntary forfeiture of the party’s right to participate in the election.
CHADEMA disputed this, arguing the code could be signed at any time and that their protest was part of their No Reforms, No Election agenda, which demands electoral reforms to ensure a free and fair vote.
The party’s chairperson, Tundu Lissu, was arrested on April 9, 2025, after a public rally promoting this agenda. He was subsequently charged with treason and publishing false statements, charges that are still progressing through the court system.
The most crippling blow came on June 10, 2025, when the High Court in Dar es Salaam issued an injunction prohibiting CHADEMA from conducting any political activities. The order was based on a lawsuit alleging discrimination in how the party allocates resources between mainland Tanzania and the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar. This injunction has become the foundation for a wider crackdown.
Confrontations with police
Law enforcement authorities have interpreted the court’s injunction in the broadest terms possible, effectively banning almost all of CHADEMA’s activities and making participation in any gathering a risk for arrest and detention.
As of this writing, dozens of CHADEMA members are in police custody for holding “illegal assemblies.” The latest nationwide arrests occurred on September 7, 2025, when police prevented members from gathering to commemorate “Mashujaa Day” (Heroes Day), an event they organised to honour those who died fighting for democracy in Tanzania.
READ MORE: CHADEMA: No Reforms, No Election is a Fight for Fairness, Not a Boycott
In Serengeti, Mara region, police arrested several high-ranking CHADEMA officials while they were cleaning the grave of Bob Makani, one of the party’s founders, and visiting his family. In Mwanza, police arrested over 20 people gathered at a church for the event.
In Dar es Salaam, police surrounded the offices of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) to block access to the planned venue.
These actions forced the party to move its commemoration online—a method CHADEMA has increasingly relied on to operate without risking the safety and liberty of its members.
Addressing the online gathering, John Heche, CHADEMA’s deputy chairperson (Tanzania Mainland), encouraged members to remain steadfast.
“We are not people who give up,” Heche stated, condemning the authorities’ actions. “We do not give up, and we will not turn back. These sufferings are temporary, and we will certainly overcome them. A day of accountability will come for those responsible.”
ACT Wazalendo cries foul
The pressure is not limited to CHADEMA. Another opposition party, ACT Wazalendo, which decided to participate in the election, is also facing significant obstacles that have hampered its ability to compete.
READ MORE: ACT Wazalendo Presidential Candidate: Tanzania Govt Has Five Days to Defend Disqualification
The party is currently in court challenging the disqualification of its presidential candidate, Luhaga Mpina. The INEC disqualified him after the Registrar of Political Parties ruled that his nomination process violated the party’s own internal rules and procedures.
In a statement on September 4, 2025, ACT Wazalendo declared that the 2025 General Election is “full of plots, cruelty, and violation of human rights.” The party alleges the disqualification of its parliamentary and councillor candidates across the country is systematic.
Specific allegations include:
- INEC officials in Mtama and Kilwa Kaskazini constituencies allegedly hiding nomination forms to prevent their candidates from being registered.
- A local official in the Ukonga constituency fraudulently altering information on their councillor nomination forms.
- Election supervisors in other areas closing offices and refusing to cooperate with their candidates.
- Parliamentary candidates in Bunda Urban, Tarime Urban, Serengeti, Arumeru East, and Karagwe being disqualified for what the party calls “baseless reasons.”
- Nearly all of their councillor candidates in Arumeru East and Itilima constituencies being disqualified “through tricks and plots by Commission officials.”
- The alleged kidnapping and brief disappearance of a councillor candidate’s nomination forms in Kivule constituency, Dar es Salaam.
Despite these challenges, ACT Wazalendo has vowed to remain in the race. The party stated it recognises that participation is part of a “long journey towards freedom,” which it understands “cannot be an easy journey.”
“We understand that our distractors and adversaries are ensuring that we lose completely and abandon our resolve,” said Shangwe Ayo, the statement’s signatory. “We take this opportunity to tell them: we will continue. For us, this journey has no option of travelling or not travelling.”
