The Tanzanian President has commended the police, crediting them with maintaining the country’s peace and stability while urging them to draw lessons from the October–November 2025 election crisis.President Samia was speaking during the graduation ceremony for police officers and assistant inspectors at the Kurasini Police Academy on May 28, 2026.
“I am a witness. Our security organs stayed awake while others slept. And even if it happened, we did not sleep; we were sitting inside, just monitoring. But our security organs remained on duty throughout the night. They did not care about eating or anything else; they stayed awake and ensured that the nation remained safe,” President Samia said.
She continued: “We were tested, but sincerely, I thank our defense and security organs. They were able to overcome those challenges within a very short time. We were tested, and the experience has given us valuable lessons.”
President Samia advised the police to learn key lessons from the incident and not to ignore signs of potential breaches of peace. Referring to the Commission of Inquiry report, she said Tanzania’s long-standing image as a peaceful nation may have contributed to authorities failing to fully act on warning signs.
“We want to see a police force that does not ignore any piece of information. Any information, or any sign of danger, should be acted upon very quickly,” President Samia told the police.
“This will only succeed if our police maintain very close cooperation and close communication with other security organs, so that they can effectively share information about potential warning signs of danger,” she added.
Noble Work
Meanwhile, in an interview with Crown Media released on May 28, 2026, CCM Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro described police action during the October–November 2025 election crisis as a noble service.
Migiro, who previously served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, argued that the police response was necessary as protests spread rapidly across the country.
“On October 29, the whole country had approximately 99,000 polling stations, and since we woke up under normal conditions, our colleagues responsible for protecting citizens’ security were already stationed at the polling areas,” Migiro said.
Migiro explained that after the protests erupted, police and other security organs had to divide their forces between responding to unrest and maintaining security at polling stations.
“It should also be remembered that this unrest spread like a wildfire; there was unrest here and there, not only in Dar es Salaam, but throughout the entire country,” she added.
READ: Will the Fate of CCM for 2030 be Decided on Magufuli’s Grave?
Migiro further explained why the ruling party’s first public statement was to congratulate the security organs, a move that remains controversial among many political observers, given the reported killings of civilians and allegations that police disappeared the bodies of some people who were shot dead.
“We believe that if they had not acted the way they did, perhaps the damage to our nation would have been even greater. That is also why the ruling party, through its National Executive Council, congratulated them, because the work they did is what has kept our nation stable up to today,” she explained.
“It is possible that in carrying out their duties, there may have been shortcomings; the good work they did in preserving peace to the extent required at that time should not be confused with isolated mistakes that may have occurred,” Migiro argued.
“And here I am not saying that deaths are minor issues; they are serious matters, but that is why there is a need to examine the circumstances surrounding those deaths. However, that does not remove the truth that the work they did was a noble service to our nation,” she emphasized.
Criticism
The ruling party’s defense of the Tanzanian security organs comes amid heavy criticism both locally and internationally.One of the strongest critics of the ruling party’s handling of the crisis is former Vice President and senior CCM member Judge Joseph Sinde Warioba, who has rejected the party’s narrative that the country has returned to normal.
“After October 29, we woke up to find a new Tanzania, different from the one we had,” he said. “We need to ask ourselves: how do we restore Tanzania to being a nation of equality and justice, unity and solidarity, patriotism and peace?” Justice Warioba said during an interview published on May 11, 2026.
“We cannot move forward if we continue to suppress truth and prevent people from discussing what happened,” he said. “We must have the courage to face the truth, however difficult it may be.”
In an article for The Chanzo titled How States Bury Massacres: Tanzania’s Dangerous New Path, ACT Wazalendo founding leader Zitto Kabwe criticized the ruling party’s continued praise of the security organs and what he described as efforts to rewrite the truth.
“The first instinct of an authoritarian system is rarely to kill. It is to rename reality. A massacre becomes a security operation. Protesters become insurrectionists. Citizens demanding accountability are recast as agents of foreign destabilisation. Language is bent until truth itself becomes suspect,” Zitto argued.
Zitto also compared the ruling party’s current response to its reaction to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, when a delegation from the Chinese Communist Party visited Tanzania to explain what had happened. At the time, CCM’s National Executive Committee first expressed regret over the bloodshed.
The party concluded that the Chinese tragedy carried two lessons: first, ruling parties collapse when they lose touch with the people; second, unresolved grievances eventually become unmanageable crises.
“The historical irony now hangs heavily over Tanzania. Following the October 29th massacre, CCM’s National Executive Committee again convened to discuss events. This time, however, the party publicly congratulated the police and intelligence services for the crackdown,” Zitto argued.
“Security forces were praised for killing Tanzanians. The contrast between the CCM of 1989 and the CCM of 2026 could scarcely be sharper,” he emphasized.
The criticism comes amid growing international attention, including a recent bill introduced by two U.S. senators proposing sanctions against ruling party leaders considered central to the October 2025 killings, as well as the broader crackdown, abductions, and disappearances of citizens before and after the elections.
READ: US Lawmakers Move to Sanction Tanzania’s Government Officials Over Election Violence
On May 22, 2026, the United States Department of State publicly designated Faustine Jackson Mafwele, a Senior Assistant Commissioner in the Tanzania Police Force, and barred him from entering the United States. The May 21, 2026 announcement cited “credible information” linking him to gross human rights violations. Mafwele has been accused of involvement in abduction incidents, allegations the police have dismissed.
Many analysts believe the ruling party’s reluctance to hold security organs accountable stems from the perception that its own political survival depends on them.
This understanding, combined with opportunities for material gain, has emboldened some individuals within these institutions to operate beyond legal and institutional boundaries, as long as they claim to be protecting the interests of the ruling party elite.
The main opposition party, CHADEMA, has continued to call for an independent international commission of inquiry.
“We want an independent international commission, one that is impartial, to come and investigate what happened in Tanzania so that appropriate action can be taken against those who committed these acts,” Party Vice Chairperson John Heche said during a rally in Katoro on May 16, 2026.
He continued: “I want to assure you that CHADEMA will never remain silent in the face of such grave injustice. You cannot kill and expect everything to continue as normal.”
Following the release of the Commission of Inquiry report, a criminal commission has been formed.
