Iringa – Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba has attributed the escalating wave of disappearances and abductions across Tanzania to a coordinated conspiracy designed to destabilise the country, rather than systemic failures within security forces or state institutions.
Speaking at a public rally in Iringa on May 23, 2026, Nchemba presented a narrative framing the crisis as part of a broader campaign of external sabotage, drawing parallels to historical incidents of violence and unrest to support his theory that organised actors are deliberately creating chaos.
The Prime Minister’s remarks come amid mounting evidence of a persistent pattern of disappearances that has gripped the nation for years, with recent figures showing that between 2023 and 2025, a total of 758 people disappeared.
Nchemba characterised the disappearances and related incidents as deliberate attempts to manipulate public perception and create division among Tanzanians.
“These are special agendas,” the PM told a rally. “This is a game, and this game did not start yesterday. These are agendas of people with intelligence. These are people with intelligence who are looking for our country. These are not just simple games. These are games, and I will give you a few examples to make you think and reflect.”
The Prime Minister referenced historical incidents, including the killing of a village chairperson in Kibiti between 2015 and 2017 and bombings at churches in Arusha in 2013, suggesting these were part of a pattern designed to sow discord and undermine public confidence in the government.
“Bombs have been thrown at churches. They want to take what from churches? Bombs of fire, what do they want to take?” he posed. “We have not asked ourselves. And because security matters, you cannot make everything public. We have not asked ourselves. They want to take what? Bombs are thrown at churches. It has remained, I don’t know how it has become, it has remained, we have not gone. It has remained; we have not gone.”
Dismissing accountability
The Prime Minister’s framing of the crisis as an external conspiracy stands in sharp contrast to his earlier acknowledgement in February 2026 that Tanzania faces “a problem of this kind” regarding abductions and disappearances.
At that time, responding to a local official who expressed fear for his life, Nchemba had conceded the existence of the crisis and pledged protection for those who speak out. However, his latest remarks suggest a shift toward attributing the phenomenon to external actors rather than addressing potential systemic failures within state institutions.
Nchemba’s narrative also echoes previous government positions characterising post-election violence as externally orchestrated. In November 2025, he branded the widespread violence following the October 29 election as “economic sabotage” rather than a political demonstration, claiming foreign involvement and armed actors were behind the destruction.
Despite the Prime Minister’s external sabotage narrative, the pattern of disappearances has been extensively documented by human rights organisations and international observers. UN experts have reportedly documented over 200 enforced disappearances in the country since 2019, describing the trend as a “pattern of repression.”
The disappearances have targeted government critics, opposition figures, activists, and ordinary citizens. In the nine days preceding October 9, 2025, at least 13 members of the main opposition party, CHADEMA, vanished without a trace, with armed men in unmarked white Land Cruiser vehicles abducting opposition members across multiple regions.
The recent abduction and torture of David Joseph Mghanja, an assistant to CHADEMA chairman Tundu Lissu, exemplifies the ongoing nature of the crisis. Mghanja was allegedly taken by individuals identifying themselves as police officers on May 20, 2026, subjected to severe beatings, and held in handcuffs before escaping into a forest.
Conspiracy framing
In his latest remarks, Nchemba suggested that those orchestrating the disappearances are deliberately creating a false narrative to manipulate public opinion and generate international pressure against the government.
“These are schemes aimed at dividing us,” the PM theorised. “They implement something and mark the entire pot to create anger among people so that people hate each other. Tanzanians, wake up. These are schemes of people with intelligence who are looking for our country. These are schemes of people with intelligence.”
The Prime Minister called on security forces to remain vigilant against what he characterised as coordinated efforts to destabilise the nation: “Direct security and safety organs. Watch out for schemes of this kind. Deal with people of this kind.”
The government’s handling of the disappearance crisis has drawn significant international attention. In May 2026, US Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Ted Cruz introduced a bipartisan bill seeking to impose severe sanctions on Tanzanian government officials and suspend critical aid, citing democratic backsliding, political repression, and human rights abuses.
While the Prime Minister’s external sabotage narrative may resonate with some segments of the population, it does not address the fundamental questions raised by human rights organisations, families of the disappeared, and international observers: who is responsible for the documented disappearances, what mechanisms exist for accountability, and what concrete steps the government will take to prevent further abductions.
The gap between the government’s characterisation of the crisis and the documented evidence of systematic disappearances continues to fuel scepticism about the government’s commitment to addressing the underlying causes of the phenomenon and ensuring justice for victims and their families.
