Tanzanian Catholic bishops, through the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), have called for an independent inquiry involving both national and international stakeholders over the “brutal killings” that followed the October 29, 2025, election day protests.
In their statement, the 41 bishops began by examining the unprecedented protests. Read by TEC president, Bishop Wolfgang Pisa, the statement opened with condolences for the victims, a condemnation of the killings, and an analysis of the protest, which started with recognition of the constitutional right to protest.
“Not every protest is a crime. To protest is a right of citizens as a way of delivering a message or grievances when dialogue has failed. It is sad to see that the protesters who turned out on election day were all placed under the umbrella of crime. The punishment of a protester is not death,” the bishops noted.
The bishops highlighted three main causes of the protests. First, incidents of abduction, killings, and physical harm to citizens.
“There have been blatant incidents of killings, abductions, beatings, and harm against citizens without a firm intention to stop these evil deeds, which are contrary to Article 14 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania,” the TEC statement explains. “The right [to life] has been proven to be violated by security organs and by ‘Unknown Assailants’ who appear to be more powerful than state authorities.”
Since 2024, abductions and disappearances have followed a persistent trend, which intensified as the election approached. In many cases, people claiming to be police or security officials have disappeared with citizens, while the authorities claim investigations are ongoing.
Second, the Bishops pointed to the lack of genuine democracy in the process of choosing leaders as a root cause. The statement notes that the persistent absence of fair, transparent, and credible electoral competition has been a long-standing concern since 2016.
The 2025 election is the first in the history of multiparty elections where the main opposition party was excluded from the ballot. Even in the presidential race, the second-largest opposition party was unable to field a candidate after its nominee was blocked. Regional observers, including SADC and the AU, with the SADC observation mission concluding that the process fell short of the standards outlined in the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
The third factor identified by the Bishops was the lack of platforms for citizens to raise concerns. “By analyzing the protests, the Bishops Conference has realized that the anger of citizens has also been fueled by the absence of a place where citizens can take their complaints about violations of their fundamental rights and have them addressed. This is because some of the branches of government are being interfered with.”
TEC went on into assessing the situation during the protest including the security crackdown, noting excessive use of force, including military-grade weapons.
“Even in war, you cannot use every kind of weapon. Protests are not war, yet weapons used in war were used. Officers killed our unarmed brothers recklessly and with extreme brutality like animals—something that makes us ask ourselves: how can a sane human being commit such acts?” the statement questioned.
The statement comes amid widespread condemnation from local, regional, and international organizations, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling for accountability over the violence. TEC further expressed concern over reports that some injured individuals were denied medical services, describing this as an evil act. They also called for the bodies of those who lost their lives to be returned to their families.
“It has been confirmed that some of those who lost their lives, their bodies have not been found. It is heartbreaking that when some people wanted to bury their loved ones, they could not find their bodies,” the statement explained.
READ: The Faces of ‘Treason’: Here Are the 466 Tanzanians Charged in Post-Election Crackdown
It continued: “We request, as other stakeholders have already done, that it would be wise and prudent to hand over the bodies of their loved ones to their families so they may lay them to rest or preserve them with dignity according to their religious beliefs, customs, traditions, and culture.”
TEC issued eight recommendations to heal the nation. They called on authorities to condemn the killings, demanded that heads of security organs take responsibility or be held accountable, and recommended an independent investigation. They urged leaders to live lives of integrity and transparency and called for the unconditional release of those detained.
“All those who were arrested deceitfully before and after the election and placed in detention or in undisclosed locations should be released unconditionally,” the statement says.
“Since this matter has caused tragedy, we advise that an investigation be conducted involving both internal and external stakeholders. The stakeholders we recommend should come from independent bodies not aligned with any side, such as international communities and institutions, religious institutions, civil society organizations, and experts in human rights and democratic matters. The government should be ready to receive and act on the report they produce,” they proposed.
The Bishops also stressed the need for a new Constitution and the rule of law, calling these long-standing demands, and urged the government to listen to citizens. Their final recommendation was for Tanzanians to continue praying for the nation—for justice, peace, and healing.
The Bishops’ statement came a day after the Tanzanian president, in her official parliamentary opening remarks, pledged to establish an inquiry into the events, ahead of national reconciliation efforts.
