Dodoma – President Samia Suluhu Hassan held a rare meeting with leaders of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) on August 10, 2026, marking a significant attempt at dialogue following months of unprecedented tension between the state and the Catholic Church over post-election violence.
According to a statement issued by State House Director of Communications Bakari S. Machumu, the talks at the Chamwino State House in Dodoma focused on strengthening cooperation between the government and the TEC.
The discussions reportedly covered national issues affecting society, including politics, faith, development, and building a peaceful future.
“The President thanked the Bishops for seeing the importance of meeting to discuss issues beneficial to the Nation to assure them of her commitment to continuing the culture of advising and involving religious leaders and various groups in society on important national matters whenever needed,” the statement read.
However, the diplomatic language of the press release masks a deep and ongoing rift that began before and after the deadly protests surrounding the October 29, 2025, general elections.
READ MORE: Tanzania’s Catholic Bishops Call for Independent Inquiry Over Election Protest Killings
The Catholic Church has been one of the most vocal institutional critics of the government’s handling of the election crisis. On November 15, 2025, the 41 bishops of the TEC issued a strong statement condemning the “brutal killings” of protesters by security forces and calling for an independent inquiry involving international stakeholders.
The bishops argued that protests are not a crime and that punishing protesters with death was unacceptable. They highlighted the excessive use of military-grade weapons against unarmed civilians and demanded the unconditional release of detainees and the return of missing bodies to their families.
This stance infuriated the government. In a speech to Dar es Salaam elders on December 2, 2025, President Samia publicly rebuked the Church’s position, arguing that the protests were an orchestrated attempt to topple the government and that the state had a duty to use proportionate force.
She explicitly warned religious institutions against overstepping their boundaries. “Constitutionally and legally, not a single denomination of any religion has been given the authority to issue statements that override all the other religious denominations,” President Samia said. “People should not impose such authority upon themselves.”
Father Kitima’s role
At the centre of this tension has been Rev. Fr. Dr Charles Kitima, the outspoken Secretary-General of the TEC. Father Kitima has consistently maintained that true national reconciliation is impossible without the government explicitly acknowledging the truth about the killings.
In a December 2025 interview, Father Kitima argued that the government must confess before God and the citizens. “Tanzanians will not forgive the failure to acknowledge it,” he warned. “You may silence people, you may do what is being done, you may continue killing those who speak, but Tanzanians will not forgive.”
His uncompromising stance has made him a target. In April 2025, before the election, Father Kitima was physically attacked and hospitalised.
Following his post-election statements, he faced severe public attacks from some Muslim clerics and a highly controversial petition by individuals claiming to be Catholics who demanded the Vatican intervene against him and Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi.
The credibility of those petitioners was widely mocked online, with Archbishop Ruwa’ichi publicly dismissing their leader as a “puppet, a double-dealer, a traitor who commits evil.”
Diplomatic fallout
The meeting in Dodoma occurs as the government attempts to manage both domestic moral authority and international diplomatic fallout.
In January 2026, Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, delivering a message from President Samia in what was widely seen as an attempt to ease the strained relations with the global Catholic leadership.
Domestically, Catholic leaders have continued to preach against the current political culture. In an April 2026 Good Friday sermon, Bishop Stephano Musomba strongly condemned political sycophancy, known as uchawa in Kiswahili, warning that the departure from truth was destroying the nation’s moral fabric.
“Truth is the reality of things as they are, and not as we want them to be,” Bishop Musomba preached, defending the Church’s right to speak on political matters that affect social justice.
The State House statement emphasised the importance of religious leaders in “nurturing a society with good morals, accountability, and solidarity.” However, it remains unclear whether the Dodoma meeting bridged the fundamental divide over accountability for the October killings.
The meeting also occurs in the context of the government’s broader accountability process. The Chande Commission, which submitted its report to President Samia on April 23, 2026, documented approximately 518 deaths and recommended a follow-up criminal investigation.
A new six-member commission led by Justice Shaban Ali Lila has since been formed to identify perpetrators. The TEC, however, has consistently argued that a commission process alone is insufficient without an explicit public acknowledgement of responsibility by the state.
For the government, the meeting represents a public display of dialogue with its most powerful institutional critic. For the TEC, it tests their stated commitment that any engagement with the state would not alter their demand for truth and justice for the victims of the election violence.
