Dar es Salaam – A wave of arrests targeting senior opposition leaders has intensified across Tanzania, with the detention of CHADEMA’s Deputy Secretary General (Mainland), Amani Golugwa, in Arusha on the morning of November 8, 2025.
His arrest follows that of Boniface Jacob, a member of the party’s Central Committee, who was detained in Dar es Salaam on the same day.
The series of detentions continued with the arrest of Godbless Lema, another member of CHADEMA’s central committee and a prominent former member of parliament. According to a statement from the party’s Northern Zone Secretary, Ndonde Totinan, Mr Lema was arrested in the Usa River area on November 8, 2025.
He was reportedly taken into an Alphard vehicle that headed towards Moshi, Kilimanjaro. All three CHADEMA leaders were among the ten people named on a police wanted list released the previous day.
These latest detentions are part of a sweeping government crackdown following the most significant protests in the nation’s history, which erupted on election day, October 29, 2025. In the wake of the unrest, the state has levelled treason charges against more than 240 citizens in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Njombe as of November 8. Treason is a capital offence in Tanzania.
READ MORE: Over 140 Tanzanians Face Treason Charges in Wake of Election Day Protests
In a public statement on November 8, CHADEMA, the main opposition party, confirmed Mr Golugwa’s arrest and condemned the continuing wave of detentions, which it claims is a deliberate attempt by the government to “cripple the party’s leadership and paralyse its operations.”
The party noted that with the arrests of Mr Golugwa, Mr Lema, and Mr Jacob, only three of the party’s six top leaders remain free, following the earlier detentions of party chairperson Tundu Lissu and vice-chairperson John Heche.
Wanted list
The crackdown follows a police announcement on November 7, which listed ten individuals wanted for questioning in connection with the election day violence. The list includes several high-profile CHADEMA officials and religious leaders.
Those named are Secretary-General John Mnyika, Director of Communications and Publicity Brenda Rupia, Central Committee member Godbless Lema, senior party member Hilda Newton, National Youth Wing (BAVICHA) Chairperson Deogratius Mahinyila, and Deputy Secretary-General (Mainland) Amani Golugwa.
The list also includes two prominent religious figures: Bishop Josephat Gwajima, head of the Ufufuo na Uzima Church and a member of the ruling party’s national executive committee, and Bishop Machumu Maximillian Kadutu, deputy secretary-general of the same church. The police have urged the named individuals to surrender for questioning by November 7, 2025.
READ MORE: Opposition Councillor-Elect and 10 Others Charged with Armed Robbery and Arson in Kigoma
The protests on October 29 saw thousands, predominantly young people, take to the streets to demonstrate against what they perceived as a non-competitive election and a preceding series of abductions targeting government critics. The demonstrations led to widespread property destruction, a six-day nationwide internet shutdown, and a military-enforced curfew.
The election saw President Samia Suluhu Hassan re-elected with a declared 97.6 per cent of the vote, with an official voter turnout of 87 per cent. This figure has been met with scepticism, as it represents a significant increase from the 50 per cent turnout in the 2020 election and approaches the total number of voting-age citizens recorded in the 2022 census.
Despite the turmoil, regional leaders have rallied behind President Samia. During an extraordinary virtual summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on November 7, 2025, chaired by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, member states congratulated President Samia on her re-election whilst expressing condolences for the loss of life during the protests.
The SADC communiqué called for calm and dialogue in resolving internal challenges. Tanzania’s Vice President, Dr Emmanuel John Nchimbi, who represented the country at the summit, affirmed that the government is committed to national reconciliation dialogue and that Tanzania remains safe and stable.
However, the SADC Election Observation Mission had issued a preliminary report on November 3, 2025, concluding that the electoral process fell short of the requirements outlined in the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
READ MORE: Tanzania Commended as SADC Leaders Hold Extraordinary Virtual Summit
The apparent contradiction between the observation mission’s findings and the congratulatory message from regional leaders has not been publicly addressed.
Mockery of justice
The mass treason charges have drawn strong condemnation from legal and civil society groups. The Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) President, Boniface Mwabukusi, described the charges as a “mockery of justice” and “oppressive,” pledging that the society would provide legal defence for all the accused.
A coalition of seven civil society organisations has also condemned the “gross human rights violations” surrounding the election, citing the killing of at least two journalists and hundreds of arbitrary arrests.
The legal turmoil extends to CHADEMA’s vice-chairperson, John Heche, who was arrested on October 22. His lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition on November 5, arguing he has been unlawfully detained for over two weeks without being brought to court. Authorities have reportedly informed his legal team that he faces two charges of terrorism.
Amidst the political turmoil, the government has sought to project an image of stability. On November 8, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology issued a public notice confirming the schedule for the new academic year.
The announcement stated that first-year university students are to report for orientation programmes starting November 17, 2025, with continuing students scheduled to resume their studies on November 24, 2025.
