Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania over the weekend.
Tanzania’s Catholic Bishops Call for Independent Inquiry Over Election Protest Killings
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.”
Read the full article here.
Mwinyi Swears in Cabinet Members
Zanzibar President Hussein Ally Mwinyi swore in his cabinet at the State House on Saturday, November 15, 2025. Mwinyi has directed cabinet members to swiftly assume their roles and follow his key directives as the new government takes office.
“This time, I would like people not to remain confined to their offices. We need to be on-site at all times. Citizens complain that issues and challenges are not resolved because officials stay in their offices. We want to be present at all times so that when a problem arises, it is solved immediately,” Mwinyi told cabinet members.
Some of Mwinyi’s key directives include proper supervision of government resources and ensuring the efficient collection of revenue, both of which were top issues during the Zanzibar campaigns. Mwinyi also cautioned against unnecessary bureaucracy in government processes, stressing that laws should be changed if they hinder efficiency.
“Often, people fail to carry out their responsibilities and when you ask, they say, ‘the law prohibits it.’ We are the ones who made these laws. If they are an obstacle, why not change them? Let us not be slaves to our own laws. If a law is problematic, let us change it so that we can be more effective,” Mwinyi said.
The new cabinet has a total of 20 ministries, an expansion from his first term, which had 18 ministries. Four ministries have been reserved for the opposition party ACT Wazalendo.
Debate Rages on Social Media over Video of Piled-Up Bodies Allegedly from Mwananyamala Mortuary; Government Denies Authenticity
Heavy debate and criticism have been circulating on social media since Saturday, November 15, 2025, when influential U.S.-based activist Mange Kimambi released a video showing numerous bodies lying on the ground, which she reported to be a leak from one of the officials from Mwananyamala Mortuary.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, has released a statement cautioning that the video is not authentic. “The Ministry of Health has taken note of a video showing bodies placed together, with claims that the scene is from Mwananyamala Hospital in Dar es Salaam,” the statement reads. “The Ministry refutes the authenticity of the video, which was created by criminals with malicious intent to tarnish the image of the country.”
“The Ministry urges all individuals producing alarming images and linking them to health facilities to stop immediately, and advises the public to refrain from sharing such content, as doing so is against the law,” it continued.
Mwananyamala Hospital is one of the busiest and most well-known government referral hospitals in Dar es Salaam, located in the Mwananyamala area of the Kinondoni district. The video and the government’s response have continued to spark intense debate on Tanzanian social media. Some social media users have reported identifying relatives or colleagues from the video. In most cases, calls for searches of the missing individuals have been announced on social media when the internet shutdown ended.
Another point of contention stems from a previous video recorded in 2024 from Mwananyamala morgue, which shows internal features of a building similar to the one shown in the disputed video. Additionally, images from the 2014 renovation of the morgue display a comparable pattern, further fueling public skepticism.
Tanzania Police Report Arrest of U.S. Soldier at the Sirari Border with Alleged Four Hand Grenades
Tanzania Police have reported the arrest of Charles Onkuri Ongeta, a 30-year-old dual citizen of Kenya and the United States, at the Sirari border.
“The Police Force of the Tarime-Rorya Regional Police today, November 16, 2025, at around 12:00 noon, in the Tanzania–Kenya border area of Sirari, arrested Charles Onkuri Ongeta, 30 years old, a dual citizen of the United States and Kenya, a U.S. Army soldier holding the rank of Sergeant,” the police statement read.
“He was found with four CS M68 hand grenades while entering Tanzania from Kenya in a vehicle with registration number KDP 502 Y, a Toyota Land Cruiser,” the statement added.
Police report that evidence collection is ongoing as the investigation continues. So far, neither the Kenyan nor the U.S. Embassy has issued a response regarding the matter.
Op-Ed: Tanzania After October 29, 2025: Will Reconciliation Without Empathy Work?
In the aftermath of Tanzania’s recent election cycle, calls for reconciliation have echoed across the nation. Political leaders, civil society groups, religious institutions, and many ordinary citizens have urged Tanzanians to “come together” and “move forward.”
Yet beneath these heartfelt appeals lies an uncomfortable and essential question: Can reconciliation truly succeed if it is not rooted in empathy?
Reconciliation is often presented as a process of “turning the page” after division. But when citizens are killed during curfews, when journalists are chased from polling stations, when the internet is shut down to restrict the flow of information, emotions do not follow political schedules.
Read the full article here.
Op-Ed:Mending the Fracture: Samia’s Prescription for a Nation Tested
A leader is defined by the demands of their time. A decade from now, we may well look back on these days and recognise that we witnessed one of the most significant speeches of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s tenure. What follows is my candid, personal analysis of the address she delivered to the Parliament in Dodoma on November 14, 2025.
The President began by grounding her address in the constitutional mandate of Article 91(1), establishing both legal legitimacy and institutional continuity. Before delving into policy, she first observed a moment of national mourning for citizens lost in the unrest following the General Election of October 29, 2025.
This was a strategic and meaningful act, acknowledging national grief while signalling a leadership style anchored in empathy and moral responsibility.
Read the full article here.
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