Dar es Salaam-In a press release on July 29, 2026, Tanzanian Minister of Home Affairs Patrobasi Katambi defended the government amid a recent crackdown that has seen opposition activists across the country jailed on terrorism charges. Katambi said authorities were focusing on criminality rather than targeting any particular group.

“No one can be targeted, nor is there any intention aimed at targeting a person or an institution or whatever, because if that were the case, if they wanted to target a certain institution, they would have arrested the entire institution, all the way up to the top leaders,” Katambi said.

Katambi’s remarks come amid a nationwide crackdown in which most of those arrested have been members of the opposition party CHADEMA. The party has reported that 51 of its members, including leaders, were arrested and charged with terrorism across the country.

READ MORE: More Than Two Dozen Charged With Terrorism in Tanzania Over Saba Saba Protests

According to party Deputy Chairperson, John Heche, arrests have spread across three zones of CHADEMA: in the Victoria Zone [regions include Mwanza, Geita and Kagera], 23 people have been arrested; in the Serengeti Zone, covering Shinyanga, Mara, and Simiyu regions, 17 people have been arrested; and in the Nyasa Zone covering Iringa, Mbeya, Njombe, Rukwa, and Songwe, 11 people have been arrested.

Speaking to party leaders on July 29, 2026, in Mwanza, Heche characterized the wave of arrests of CHADEMA leaders as a government scheme to pressure the party into “fake reconciliation” talks with the ruling party — talks that would lend the ruling party legitimacy amid a political crisis.

“And I want to tell you why they’re arresting people, locking them up, and slapping them with terrorism charges: it’s to create internal pressure. So that pressure builds, and you see them continuing to arrest people, and the one who supposedly doesn’t want reconciliation becomes Heche, or the Central Committee. The aim is to get members to start saying, ‘Ah, we want reconciliation by any means necessary,'” Heche told party leaders.

“Even if they arrest me, the goal isn’t Heche. The goal is for the people to get a new constitution and to start a new nation. There will be no reconciliation or negotiations without our Chairman being free. He is the one who holds the mandate of the General Assembly. Nothing will be discussed without an international mediator,” Heche emphasized.

Heche also linked the trend to the series of attacks that have also been leveled against him. Over the past three weeks, a string of individuals who appeared to have been planted have held press conferences and circulated content on social media attacking Heche, claiming he is preventing the party from pursuing reconciliation.

Audio recordings have also surfaced in which ruling party supporters are allegedly heard offering money to party members to join the smear campaign. However, the campaign appears to have had the unintended effect of encouraging more people to contribute to the party, as many of those leading it are little-known figures with no standing in CHADEMA. In several instances, individuals from other political parties have also posed as CHADEMA leaders.

In his remarks, Heche also said they had traced a white Toyota Land Cruiser bearing the fake registration number T 318 EQJ, a number that actually belongs to a Caterpillar machine, which was seen searching for his home in Mwanza. In CCTV footage released by Heche, the driver of the vehicle is heard asking a passerby where Heche’s home is located.

Heche linked the incident to the sudden death of his driver, arguing that both developments form part of what he described as a coordinated campaign of pressure intended to force him and the party into accepting what he called a “fake reconciliation.”

READ MORE: Long-Time Driver of Tanzanian Deputy Opposition Leader Found Dead in Guest House During Work Trip

At his press conference on Wednesday, the Minister of Home Affairs distanced the government from the police crackdown on CHADEMA members, insisting that no one is being targeted.

Criticism has also come from academic institutions following the arrest and charging of Assistant Lecturer Melkisedeki Kaijage, and Katambi weighed in on that criticism as well.

“But also, if they wanted to target, say, academics/professionals, they could have arrested [them] — there are academics who are free even now. So let us not defend things we don’t know about, especially in matters that are currently before the Court. At present we have no audacity to question them,” Katambi said.

“Because, I’ve heard there’s somewhere they say there’s the ‘Uganda Convention’ [for academics] which is not immunity from criminal liability. That is, if I am a Lecturer, a Lawyer, a Minister, a Member of Parliament, whoever it may be, no one is above the law,” he emphasized.

Several figures have come out in defence of academic freedom following the lecturer’s arrest and charging. Among them is Professor Issa Shivji, whose essay Terrorizing Academic Freedom in Tanzania was published by CODESRIA.

Shivji examined the particulars of the charge sheet, which read: Melkisedek Kitunzi Kaijage, on the 3rd day of July 2026 at the University of Dodoma area within Dodoma Region, committed a terrorist act to wit; threatening to burn public buildings and police residences within the United Republic of Tanzania, with the aim of seriously intimidating members of the Public of the United Republic of Tanzania.

READ MORE: Fear and Frustration on Campus as University Lecturer is Charged with Terrorism

“The particulars of the offence read as if they have been cut and pasted from a template. They singularly lack the necessary details that could enable the accused to meet the accusation. Where exactly in the university were the threats issued? In a lecture room? Under a tree? In a public hall? Were the threats verbal or written? What was the medium used to issue the threat—social media? a lecture? a public rally?,” Shivji asked.

“What was the audience—students? passers-by? street vendors? What were the contents of the threat? A host of other questions could be posed, but they would be unnecessary. The objective of the drafter of the charge is clear—to charge Kaijage with an unbailable offence not only to ‘punish’ the accused but to drive fear among and intimidate his academic peers,” he added.

Most of the charge sheets offer few details regarding the said terrorism charge. For example, the charges against CHADEMA’s Serengeti zonal leader read: Jackson Rashid Mnyawami, on diverse dates from June 14, 2026 to June 15, 2026, within Shinyanga region in Tanzania, did arrange to conduct a terrorist act namely: inciting the public to conduct an illegal protest on 7th July, 2026, an act which involved prejudice to the safety of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Some analyst have pointed out terrorism charges has been invoked so as to keep people in prison while mainatining that investigation is ongoing, a pattern that have been recorded to similar cases which have gone on for decades without completion.