Dar es Salaam – Crows, flies, and small groups of mourners scattered across several houses are all that remain to tell the story of what happened on Kanga-Kariakoo Street in Kinyerezi, Dar es Salaam. Eight neighbours were executed in the early morning of November 3, 2025, at around 3 a.m.
The victims included a retired police officer, two teachers, a driver, a bank officer, two shopkeepers, and a small trader. They were ordered to lie face down on the ground before they were shot, one after another.
Two neighbours managed to escape after a brief moment of hesitation by the killers when one of the victims, popularly known by his street name Ostadh, begged for his life.
He pleaded, saying he had just lost his wife and was the only one left to raise their six-month-old child. The survivors who are now facing mental health challenges tell a harrowing tale that left the whole neighbourhood in shock.
“When you talk to him, if he goes silent, don’t speak to him, let him calm down,” one mourning neighbour told The Chanzo as we prepared to interview one of the survivors.
“We’re scared to even talk about it. We don’t understand why they did this to us, we’re afraid,” another neighbour said, their eyes and voices filled with sadness and fear. Many residents of the area spoke in low tones, drained of energy, as if someone might still be listening.
The incident began when neighbours heard a disturbance coming from a nearby wholesale shop. The retired police officer led others to secure the area and called for the police for assistance.
When armed officers arrived, they were all ordered to lie on the ground, some on one side of the road near the shop, others across the street by an electricity pole. The last man to arrive was the bank officer, whose house faces the shop. From inside, he watched as the situation unfolded.
When he saw the police, he came out and asked if it was safe to do so. The officers reportedly told him it was. Moments later, the men were shot one by one, and their bodies were taken away by their killers.
“Before the rain fell, this place was not suitable; they came and poured sand here, but it still wasn’t good. The rain has cleaned it up a little,” one neighbour explained, describing the aftermath. The rains of November 4 washed away some of the remains, including parts of the victims’ heads and large pools of blood.
Yet, flies still swarm the area as if claiming it, and crows hover over the small section of the street where the killings occurred. Families have been struggling to recover the bodies; so far, only four have been found.
The remaining families sit mourning in their homes as others search through morgues and police stations in hopes of finding their loved ones. Some families are even considering holding funerals without the bodies.
On Thursday, November 6, 2025, a funeral service was held at Kinyerezi Catholic Parish for one of the deceased, retired officer Joseph Igumba Mwakabana. Family members, relatives, and friends attended the service before the body of the elder, who was born on July 7, 1961, was transported to Mbeya for burial.
In a moment filled with sorrow, his eldest son, who was reading his father’s eulogy, was overcomed with emotion, unable to hold back tears, and had to stop the speech midway.
Mwakabana’s neighbors described him as a dependable elder, a close advisor to many young people, and a person of kind and loving nature, even toward those he did not know personally.
On Friday, November 7, 2025, another funeral service was held for Aloyce Leonard Soka, a former employee of a commercial bank in Tanzania and the father of two children. The service took place once again at Kinyerezi Catholic Parish, after which the body was transported to Moshi, Kilimanjaro, where the burial took place on November 8, 2025.
His neighbors describe Aloyce Soka as someone who never ignored other people’s problems and was always willing to help whenever he could. Outside his house, his Volkswagen Beetle, popularly known as Kobe, remains parked and covered with a tarpaulin. Neighbors recall how much he loved vintage cars and how he patiently worked on restoring that car, often becoming a source of friendly teasing among them.
Among those being mourned are Shabani, Ignas, Mustapher, Abuu, Shabani (known as “Ostadh”), and Mcheda. For the four people whose bodies have not yet been found, ongoing mourning gatherings have been set up in their homes without a definite end date. In the neighborhood, you can see a group of women sitting quietly outside the homes of the victims, waiting for any news from those still searching for the bodies taken away by the perpetrators of the killings.
Meanwhile, funeral meetings continue to take place as families gather. In some of the funeral planning meetings that our reporter has attended, it was obvious that everyone was trying hard to distract themselves from the painful reality of how their loved ones lost their lives. Many people at these gatherings seem to hide their fear, confusion, and sorrow, emotions that become apparent whenever silence falls.
This tragedy is part of a series of deaths that families in Tanzania are still struggling to cope with, the official number of which remains unknown. For many victims, photos circulating online show gunshot wounds sustained during protests that erupted during the general election on October 29, 2025, unrest that was followed by a security lockdown and restrictions lasting until November 3, 2025.
