Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
Tanzanian Music Artists Struggle to Return to Business After October 29 as Society Pushes for Boycott: ‘Makomborero’ Remains End-of-Year Top Song
It is no longer a secret: Tanzanian artists are struggling to stage a comeback after the October 29 protests and the deadly crackdown that left families mourning their loved ones. Following the events, a social-media push emerged urging the public to boycott Tanzanian artists, especially those who were major crowd-pullers at ruling-party campaign rallies, a practice that has been common in past elections.
Unlike previous years, there is now a perception that artists celebrate people’s problems and cannot stand with the common citizen. This sentiment triggered a grassroots boycott, not through hashtags or coordinated campaigns, but through a collective understanding expressed in comment sections across platforms. The boycott is silent yet loud.
As a result, end-of-year shows have vanished, artists have canceled song and album releases, and, unlike previous years, the top-trending song in various physical spaces is not a local hit but a piece handpicked by activists: “Makomborero.”
Noticing the situation, Francis Ciza—famously known as Majizo, the owner of EFM, talent scout, event promoter, and founder of one of Tanzania’s largest event promotion companies, addressed the issue on December 11, 2025.
“We can all agree that we have political party ideology, it has not started today. Most of the time we were successful that party ideology did not enter into music; music remained music, without political affiliation, and musicians had the freedom to choose whichever party they wished,” Majizzo said in his public address. “There have been musicians who chose to remain artists while also venturing into politics, using music as a platform that propelled them into the political arena.”
“What is happening now, and what frightens me, is that this platform [music] may no longer produce future politicians. This is because we have essentially agreed not to support Tanzanian music. This is a difficult and very weighty statement,” he continued.
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Third Legal Challenge Emerges Over Post-Election Events As Rights Groups Sue Govt Over Post-Election Internet Blackout
A coalition of human rights defenders, led by the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), has filed the third significant lawsuit against the Tanzanian government in the wake of the country’s recent contentious general election.
This latest petition challenges the legality of a nationwide internet blackout that was imposed from October 29 to November 4, 2025, with the petitioners arguing that it was an unconstitutional act that violated citizens’ fundamental rights.
This case follows two other major legal challenges related to the post-election turmoil. The first was a petition brought by three citizens seeking to halt the work of a presidential Commission of Inquiry, which they claim is biased and illegally formed.
The second was a lawsuit filed by the TLS against the government over a five-day curfew imposed in Dar es Salaam, which the petition argues was unlawful.
The lawsuit regarding the internet shutdown names the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), several major telecommunication companies, and the Attorney General as respondents.
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Export Growth, Easing Global Oil Prices Narrow Tanzania’s Current Account Deficit
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s external sector recorded a strong performance in the year ending October 2025, with the current account deficit narrowing significantly on the back of robust export growth, improved tourism earnings, and favourable global commodity prices.
According to the November Monthly Economic Review released by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the current account deficit declined to USD 2.22 billion from USD 2.89 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2024.
This improvement reduced the deficit to 2.4 percent of GDP, down from levels exceeding 6 percent in 2022, reflecting a steady strengthening of the country’s external position.
The improvement was largely driven by a sharp rise in exports of goods and services, which increased to USD 17.05 billion from USD 15.13 billion in the year ending October 2024.
Exports of goods alone rose to USD 10.14 billion, which the Bank attributed to strong performances in gold, manufactured goods, tobacco, cashew nuts, and coffee.
Gold exports were the standout performer, surging by 38.9 percent to a historic USD 4.60 billion, mainly due to higher global gold prices. Traditional exports also expanded by 25.2 percent, driven by both price and volume gains in tobacco and cashew nuts.
In addition, cereal exports, largely maize and rice, rose to USD 312.5 million, reflecting increased demand from neighbouring countries, which are major importers of cereals produced in Tanzania.
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Former Minister Geoffrey Mwambe Arrested, Lawyer Files Petition Demanding Police Produce Him in Court or Release Him
Lawyers representing former Minister of Investment Geoffrey Mwambe have filed a petition at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court, seeking the court’s intervention over what they describe as Mwambe’s unlawful detention.
The petition is scheduled for hearing on Monday, December 15, 2025, before Resident Magistrate Gwantwa Mwankunga. It remains unclear what charges, if any, Mwambe is facing. However, a message circulating earlier on social media, before the lawyers released official information, suggested that his arrest may be linked to political tensions and internal factions within the ruling party.
Speaking to The Chanzo today, Advocate Hekima Mwasipu stated that he was able to speak with Mwambe while he was being held at the Kigamboni Police Station. However, Mwasipu noted that they currently do not know Mwambe’s whereabouts, as the police have not disclosed the station to which he was transferred. The Laywer and Mwambe family have reported to search him in various police station.
The respondents listed in the petition include the Inspector General of Police, the Dar es Salaam Zonal Crime Officer, and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mwambe previously served as a Senior Economist at the Bank of Tanzania before becoming the Director of Trade and Investment at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He later joined politics after being appointed District Commissioner of Manyoni in 2016. In 2017, he was appointed as the Executive Director of the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC).
He went on to serve as Minister of Industry and Trade in 2021, and later as the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Investment. His ministerial role ended in January 2022, when he was dropped by President Samia during a reshuffle.
Mwambe is also a former Member of Parliament for Masasi Urban. He was among the 40 MPs axed by the CCM Central Committee ahead of the party’s primaries by the end of July 2025.
Tanzania’s Opposition Declares October 29 Election ‘Illegitimate’ Amidst Clashing Narratives
A war of narratives is intensifying in Tanzania as the leading opposition party, CHADEMA, formally rejects the legitimacy of the October 29, 2025, general election.
In a powerful statement on December 11, 2025, the party, which claims to have been systematically prevented from contesting, labelled the election “invalid” and described President Samia Suluhu Hassan as a “self-imposed ruler.”
“The October 29, 2025, election was not a legitimate election but a predetermined outcome orchestrated by the state,” said John Heche, CHADEMA’s deputy national chairperson (Tanzania Mainland), in a press conference, presenting the party’s Central Committee’s resolutions on the elections and its associated events.
“We are witnessing a situation where the state has waged war against its own citizens,” he added. “This is not a legitimate government.”
The party’s stance is a culmination of months of what some have described as an escalating political suppression. A High Court injunction on June 10, 2025, effectively banned all of CHADEMA’s political activities, while its chairperson, Tundu Lissu, was arrested in April and continues to be detained on treason charges.
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‘We Deserve Respect, Not Pain’: The Harsh Reality Facing Tanzania’s Girl Domestic Workers
Rachel was just 14 when she left her rural home in Kondoa, Dodoma, to work in Arusha, a bustling city in northern Tanzania. It was 2015, and Rachel had just completed primary school. Her dreams were simple – she wanted to help her family. With no money for a private secondary school and having failed her final exams, her future felt uncertain.
“My parents encouraged me to find work and build my own life,” Rachel says. “They thought it was better than staying at home with nothing to do.”
Rachel’s story mirrors that of countless young girls from poor farming families across Tanzania. Driven by necessity, they turn to domestic work in hopes of supporting their families and building a better life.
Although Tanzanian law sets the minimum employment age at 14 and offers protections for workers aged 14 to 17, many young domestic workers like Rachel find themselves in informal jobs where these safeguards are rarely enforced.
Rachel found an agent who connected her to a family in Arusha offering Sh30,000 (approximately US$12) per month. She dreamed of saving enough to become a tailor. But the reality was far more difficult.
The household had two children – an eight-month-old baby and a seven-year-old boy. Her daily routine involved waking the boy at 6 a.m., preparing him for school, caring for the baby, cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry.
“It was a beautiful house with plenty of food, and I had my own room,” she recalls. “But the work was exhausting. I had to do everything alone, with no rest.”
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