One year on from the October 29, 2025 election crisis, which left at least 518 people dead and more than 2,000 injured according to official figures, this Kivulini Talks session brought together stakeholders to take stock of the state of the nation: what we know, what we still don’t know, and what lies ahead in light of current developments.
The panel featured Dr. Helen Kijo-Bisimba, a prominent Tanzanian human rights advocate; Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki, a seasoned civil society executive; Jebra Kambole, a human rights lawyer and constitutional law expert; Ziada Seukindo, head of programmes at Jamii Africa; Fulgence Massawe, director of advocacy and reforms at the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC); and The Chanzo’s analyst Joel Ntile. The session was moderated by Khalifa Said.
Khalifa Said: Hello, and welcome, viewers of The Chanzo. We welcome you once again to our Kivulini series, which we’ve been running here at The Chanzo, bringing together various stakeholders to discuss key issues unfolding in our country, Tanzania, and beyond.
Today, October 29, 2026, marks one year since the events that took place on October 29, 2025, which, as you may remember, was election day. But something else happened too. Some have called it protests; others say they weren’t protests but unrest. Either way, it happened and one of the things that came with it was the killing of many people. According to the commission set up by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, around 500 people were killed in the events of October 29. But there are other, less official reports that say thousands were killed and thousands more were injured. There was also massive destruction of private property and government infrastructure.
And since October 29, 2025, a lot has happened, and many efforts have been made. The President, as we know, has set up two commissions so far in response to what happened on October 29, and other things have followed. So, as part of marking, or remembering, what happened, The The Chanzo has organised this discussion, in which we’ll be in conversation with several prominent people from different walks of life, including law, political analysis, and the media, to assess, one year on, what happened on October 29, 2025, and whether the steps we’ve taken as a nation are enough, or whether there’s more we need to do.
My name is Khalifa Said and I’ll be moderating this conversation On behalf of my colleagues behind the camera, a very warm welcome to you. My dear guests, welcome to The Chanzo. Welcome, thank you. Thank you so much for accepting our invitation and coming to join us here for this discussion.
Perhaps my first question, the one I’d like us to start with, and I’d like each of us to have a chance to weigh in, even briefly: one year after what happened on October 29, 2025, what do we know, and what don’t we know? What is known, and what remains unknown about what happened on October 29? Maybe we’ll start with Mama Helen.
Helen Kijo Bisimba: Thank you. Yes, that’s a good question. What do I know, and what don’t I know? To be honest, the main thing I know is that October 29 was election day, and as far as I know, that election fell apart, because what happened in many parts of the country meant the election couldn’t take place the way elections normally do.
The second thing I know is that in that situation, in many areas, there was what looked like people protesting, which later turned into chaos. People were killed, and property was destroyed. That much I know. Another thing I know is that we were confined to our homes for several days afterwards. And now that it’s all happened, I know people died. I can’t say how many, but there are those who said hundreds, thousands, and those who said 500. But people died. And something else I know is that not everyone who died was in the areas where people were protesting. People died even in other places, including young children. I saw in that report that 21 children were killed. They died. And there were people in places that had nothing to do with it.
And what I don’t know is who, I mean, who called those protests in the first place. I don’t know who. And second, I don’t know who, among those confronting the protests, gave the order to kill with live bullets. How did they prepare? Did they sit down and say, if they see people like that, they’ll be shot? Who gave that order saying, “Now shoot”? I don’t know who. So those are things I don’t know and would really like to know.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Mama Lutgard.
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Thank you very much. I, too, know that the 29th was election day, and for the first time, I didn’t vote. I hadn’t registered, given the way things were. I’d lost hope before the day came. I’ve always voted as my basic right, but that day I didn’t go out.
And I know that protests took place, and some of the deaths happened right on our street. I was in my bedroom, peeking at that little security camera, watching police pass right in front of my house. So there was panic. I knew that a young man there, at the shop next door, was shot while serving customers. That I know. I knew about the panic, but honestly, I never expected people to die, that anyone would order them killed. But they were killed, and then we heard that bodies had gone missing. I saw families burying clothes and shoes.
There’s so much we don’t know. Where were the missing bodies taken? Some say they were buried in mass graves. We don’t know where they are. Then a commission was set up. We’ve heard about the commission, but personally, I don’t understand it. So there’s still a lot of confusion.
Khalifa Said: Okay.
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: A great deal of it.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Masawe.
Fulgence Massawe: Thank you for the time. I won’t go back over what happened, which the colleagues before me have covered. What do I know? What I know, the government knows too. I say I know it because I know the 29th was the culmination of putting off problems for a long time. It’s like having a pipe under heavy water pressure, shutting it off at the end, and still pumping in more water, expecting that it’ll get somewhere and do what you want. But eventually, the pipe will burst.
So, what the government knows. Let me start like this: when you see the government setting up commissions, setting up task forces, when you see the government talking about reforms, it knows there’s a problem. President Mwinyi set up the commission of the late retired Chief Justice Nyalali to examine our political system and the structure of our state. Fortunately, I have that commission’s full report, and I’ve gone through it many times. It recommended many fundamental things. None were acted on except one: introducing multiparty politics.
Then came President Mkapa, who took over right after him. Mkapa set up the Kisanga Commission. Kisanga came up with his recommendations. That report has never been seen, but we know what it said, based on what the man who formed the commission said publicly: that they didn’t do what they were sent to do. Perhaps the commission made recommendations the government didn’t like. Then came Kikwete’s government, which set up the Warioba Commission to review the Constitution and draft a new one, because they knew the Constitution wasn’t adequate. They submitted recommendations, and they were never acted on. Then Mama Samia came to power and set up the Mkandala task force, and even with its recommendations, we don’t know if they’ve been implemented.
So what I know is that these are long-standing problems that the government itself is aware of, and has set up commissions for. When you set up a commission or a task force, it means there’s a problem you already know about. And at the end of the day, once they finish, they become enemies because of what they’ve recommended. It’s like when you’re sick, you go to the doctor, and the doctor tells you your treatment is an injection, and then you start seeing the doctor as the bad guy, because you’re not ready to get that injection. And why? Because the recommendations being made probably don’t benefit the existing system. So it’s as if, after putting off problems for so long, what happened on the 29th came from the very things the government already knows about. Thank you.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Jebra.
Jebra Kambole: Thank you. I think what happened on October 29 is known. The rulers know it, and the people know it. There’s nothing we don’t know. Maybe we don’t know it collectively, but people know the killings happened. People may know in isolation: those in Dar es Salaam know, but not about Iringa; those in Iringa know, but not about Arusha. But those of us who’ve followed all the post-election cases know that many people were killed and many were injured, and so far we see no steps with a genuine intention of stopping us from going back to where we came from. So what don’t we know? Maybe everything is known. Everything is known; it’s just that it hasn’t been pieced together in one place. But if people were buried, people know.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Sister Ziada.
Ziada Seukindo: I’d say what we know is that October 29, 2025, has redefined our lives. Right now, I’d say every decision, almost everything that happens in Tanzania, is shaped by that day, in politics, in the economy, everywhere. Even for us in civil society, so many things, our reference point is that day. And even just as Tanzanians, we haven’t moved on, yeah. Whatever happens comes back to that.
What I’d say we don’t know, or what I personally don’t know, is why, even though it’s been about a year now, we’re still beating around the bush on this issue. Why haven’t we decided to aim shot on target, hit this issue and deal with it? We’ve been making plenty of efforts, but they all just circle around the issue.
Khalifa Said: Brother Joel.
Joel Ntile: Let me add to what the others have said: the only thing, or rather, another thing I see as a lesson from October 29 is that Tanzania is not immune. You know, we used to feel like we were a special country, an island of peace, an island of peace, that would never face any kind of instability. But October 29 taught us otherwise, and showed us that if we don’t adopt the approach of solving our problems by carrying out, especially for political, social and economic problems, by carrying out reforms where they’re needed, it’s very easy to expose ourselves to problems like the ones that happened on October 29.
READ: Kivulini Talks: Tanzania Amid World in Disarray, Are we Prepared?
Massawe gave a very good example showing part of the pattern: in 1990, President Mwinyi set up a commission, partly because of the pressure for reform at the time, although it was seen, after the commission, as the demand of just a few people. But essentially, if you look at the Nyalali Commission’s recommendations, many of them implied that fundamental reform of the political system and other social relations was needed, something that has long been called for, and something we need to work on.
Khalifa Said: Thank you very much, Joel. I was wondering, particularly on this question of what we don’t know: why don’t we know what we don’t know? What’s stopping us? Because one might ask: it’s already been a year. Under normal circumstances, you’d expect the truth to be out in the open by now. At least we, the public, would know a commission was formed and released its report. Perhaps, Mama Helen, you can help me: why don’t we know these things? What’s stopping us from getting the real truth about what happened?
Helen Kijo Bisimba: Yes, honestly, the things we don’t know, we don’t know because there’s a situation we haven’t sorted out properly. The government, for example, has tried to do things like setting up commissions and so on, but everyone said of those commissions that they weren’t bodies formed with everyone’s agreement. Many people felt we should have looked… since we’ve all been hurt, we’re no longer an island of peace, we’re all in it together, we should have looked for a person or people from outside, who would bring a different eye, one not out to favour me or anyone. Because if I do it, they may say I’m biased, or if it’s the government. So we should have found another body to come and help us, one we could even work with, but a credible one, so that when it speaks, people believe it.
So there are many things we don’t understand, that we don’t know, also because we don’t trust what’s being said, because The commission that was set up, for example, I never saw it address the very question I said I don’t know: who gave the order to kill. Why wasn’t that in the commission’s work? It should have been fundamental, because if we want to build, if we want to move forward, we have to know where we are, how we got here and how we’ll move on. But there’s no real will to do these things.
Honestly, as the last speaker said, we’re dodging, going around in circles. As the English say, “beating around the bush”. We just go round and round. We don’t want to face this honestly and look at what really happened so we can get to the truth. And getting the truth would also help us avoid repeating it. What do we do? If the problem is the systems, how do we tackle it? If the problem is people, how do we help them, or what do we do with them? We need to examine that, but we can’t find the truth because we ourselves haven’t been truthful.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Thank you, Massawe. In your view, what do you think has left us, as a nation, unable to find out the truth about what happened that day?
Fulgence Massawe: To get to the truth, you need a commission or a body that investigates and has no stake in either side. Tanzania isn’t the first country to go through what we’ve been through, and I’m really glad Joel put it so well, that we saw ourselves as an island of peace, but it’s not as if we’re that safe. So we didn’t need to reinvent the new wheel. It was a matter of looking at countries that have faced challenges like ours. How did the truth come out? Commissions have been set up that were genuine, because truth comes first, and it leads to everything else you want.
Take our neighbours in [2007] faced a crisis similar to ours Kenya and their crisis, let me tell you, may not have been as devastating as ours. I’ll give you a simple example, and it’s something I often say: perhaps the report of the Chande Commission is fine, it just lacks accountability. Our neighbours fought for nearly three months, two or three months. Reports say 800 to 1,000 people died. For us, three or four days, and 518 people. What if it was a month? How did Kenya resolve it, and how does the truth come out? It’s that they had a body that was independent, with international oversight, that did the work, made recommendations, and named those responsible, and they were taken to the ICC. I don’t know if you see the transparency there.
Now, our problem is that we can’t know the truth because we haven’t had a body that’s acceptable to all sides and has no vested interest. Once a body has vested interests, that’s when we start having doubts about it, and you can’t get the truth. But even when it does have interests, whatever it produces, whatever comes out of the body’s work should be made public. One way is through the report that was produced, because, after all, because the work has been done with taxpayers’ money Because we’ve developed a habit of associating everything with one person. No. Whatever is done in this country, good or bad, belongs to the people, because it’s their taxes being used.
Okay. So with no access to information and a toothless media… For example, you ask what we don’t know about that day. We don’t know what was happening, because we were in the dark. You in the media weren’t there, and the internet wasn’t working. Okay. Even if we had a commission that’s, that’s flawed, if we had media reporting accurate, evidence-based information, it would help us know the truth.
Khalifa Said: Would you like to come in?
Jebra Kambole: Ah, yes, I wanted to add to that: we lack, we’ve been denied the truth because the government has decided not to give it to us. After receiving the commission’s report, the President decided it should be her private document. But she isn’t the one who was harmed; the people were. So the report should belong to the people.
And the commission has had problems. Even though it’s made up of commissioners, behind it is a secretariat that no one knows about, and it was never made public, even though the commission’s secretariat is what does the work of summoning people to come and speak to the commission, processing and writing up the report. It’s not as if those elders sit there typing up the report themselves, pages and pages. No, no. There are people doing the work. Do we know who was behind the commission, processing that information, summoning and questioning people? Those employed by that commission, on what basis were they hired? How much were they paid in allowances? Where were they staying, and on whose money? Thank you.
Khalifa Said: Sister Ziada, and then Joel, briefly, in your view, how does our failure as a nation to get the full truth about what happened on October 29 hold back our efforts to move forward?
Ziada Seukindo: It holds us back to a huge extent, a huge extent, because you know, it’s as if we’re still waiting. Just look at the comments on social media. Whenever anything happens, people bring it back up. So there’s still unfinished business. As a nation, we’re still waiting. So nothing is moving. I’d say nothing. I know the government is doing a lot, infrastructure development and so on, but as citizens, we can’t take part in any of it together as a country, unite and support what’s going on, because there’s still a debt of truth to be settled. But above all, accountability must be seen to be done.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Joel, would you like to add anything?
Joel Ntile: Something I wanted to add on your last question is that we can talk at length, but we also have to accept that there’s division in our country’s politics, and politics also plays a very important role in making sure we build national unity and move forward. So any process that needs to go ahead now must at least be accepted, or trusted, by all the existing political sides first. So that’s something I see sorely lacking right now, and it causes any other effort being made to fail to bear the fruit we expect.
And that division isn’t just political; we now see it even at the community level. So to build trust in these processes, it’s crucial to ensure that those who initiate these processes, such as commissions, make sure that they are commissions that people trust. And all sides may not agree 100 percent, but the process must ensure that at least all sides have faith in it. We have that experience from other nations too. We were talking, Rogete, or rather Masawe, talked about other nations that went through these processes. Even in South Africa’s process, when apartheid was ending, even the ANC itself believed that, “although we don’t agree with everything in this process, at least we trust this Truth and Reconciliation Commission to get us out of here.” So that’s something I think is very important in these processes if we’re to move forward.
Khalifa Said: Thank you. And that brings me to my question, which, Mama Lutgard, I’d like you to help us with. Following what happened on October 29, what should have been an appropriate response? I mean, as a nation, how should we have responded? I’m trying to imagine, say you put yourself in the position of head of state. You’ve just been sworn in and find the country in a situation like that one. What would you have done so that, a year later, the country would be back to normal and life would be going on? Because, as Sister Ziada was saying, it’s as if we’re at a standstill right now, waiting for something to happen before we carry on with everything else. What should have been an appropriate national response to what happened on October 29, in your view?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: What saddened me is that we thought we Tanzanians were united, and these deaths had nothing to do with party lines. So as a country, I expected us to come together, to talk together. But on this, we’re divided, and those in leadership pretend nothing happened, and that even if it did, it’s because young people caused trouble, as if causing trouble justifies killing. Because killing in any form, that’s why we even campaign to abolish the death penalty, even for someone who has killed. So the killing wasn’t justified.
Another thing that saddened me is these international bodies. I’ve even asked myself what use the United Nations is to us. The African Union, what use is it to us? The East African Community, what use is it? Because I believed they would come and say this isn’t right. They’ve all kept quiet. Some made a show of withdrawing aid, and now we see it being restored. So when I look at this deadlock, I find it very difficult. There’s a lot of hypocrisy. You know… we need a commission from outside the country.
Khalifa Said: If we want to start that dialogue, those conversations that brother Joel mentioned, like the ones in South Africa, who should have been in the driving seat? What should we have done, how, and who should have done what, so that today, perhaps, on October 29, 2026, we’d be talking about something a little different? And then Mama Helen.
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: That’s why I keep coming back to the same point: our leaders are all of one mind on this, as if it’s not an issue. I’d like the public to wake up. When the public is united, it’s powerful. We’re the ones who must bring about this change. We’re the ones who must force it.
Khalifa Said: Would you like to add something?
Fulgence Massawe: There’s a Latin saying that say …Ubi jus ibi remedium meaning where there is a right, there is a remedy without accountability and transparency, you can’t move forward. Now, how do you achieve transparency and accountability? That’s where we’re stuck. And we can’t deny that the nation is divided. And once a nation is divided, without transparency and accountability you can’t bring it together. So even if you were a leader where there’s no transparency and no accountability, you could never move forward, not even for a day.
Khalifa Said: Okay. But you know, Joel, to add on, picking up from where you left off, and from what’s been said so far, in your view, what do you think is holding us back from doing this? I mean, what’s stopping us, Tanzania, from doing what South Africa did, as you described, or what is stopping us from doing what Mama Helen just described? What interests do you see clashing there, which have perhaps held us hostage as a nation?
Joel Ntile: Yeah. First, before I answer that, I’d also like to remind you of something this isn’t the first time Tanzania has gone through a crisis. It may not have been on the scale of what happened last year, but it has gone through crises where we saw at least some political accountability, which, more often than not, even when people aren’t satisfied with certain things, at least gives them some faith that something might be done.
A good example is Mwinyi’s resignation, which Shivji describes in his book on human rights: there were killings where citizens were tortured, killed and tortured in Mwanza and Shinyanga regions. And when Mwalimu Nyerere was presented with reports and evidence from those harmed, one response was to take action, to hold people accountable. Politicians, ministers, resigned, the regional commissioners of the affected regions resigned, and even some of those who carried out the acts were made to answer for it, prosecuted and even jailed. Shivji’s book explains it very well. So that gave citizens hope that, despite the problems we have, something was being done, so let that faith live on, things will get better, let’s unite.
So that’s what is missing now. And in my view, the main reasons I see, I see two of them. First, when the ruling party stops doing politics and leaves many political decisions looking like decisions of the state, that creates serious problems, often on matters of accountability. And second, which ties in with that, I don’t know what the fear is, at least among some, of responding the way Mama Helen describes, so that at least some people are removed and we see accountability, people held directly to account. Although, explanation at the moment it is a point that’s being raised, and the defence from the other side is that there’s still a second commission of inquiry under way, and that may still happen. But we see it’s taking a very long time, and so the wounds are slow to heal.
Khalifa Said: Thank you. Jebra, what do you think is stopping us from doing this? You too, because I think it’s a fair question, since other countries have done it. Kenya did it, and it’s proven, it’s been shown to be a good way of restoring stability and so on. I’m really interested to know what is stopping us from having that kind of process.
Jebra Kambole: I think what’s holding us back is that the rulers believe those processes, if genuine and transparent, would cost them their political positions. That’s why you see that, even though the report has a credibility problem, with people saying they don’t trust it, it’s still been kept secret. Okay. But if it were public, it would bring accountability.
But I think the ideal commission, in a situation where the President is in office and people still question her legitimacy, and there’s no way to challenge it in court, because she is already President and carrying out her duties, so if they chose to act in good faith, they’d set up a commission that, even if not made up of outsiders, would have credible people from within. You’d see someone sitting there and think, I can go to this commission and speak, give my views. But just by looking at the commission’s make-up, you know full well that even if I go and talk, what I say won’t be written down.
That’s why I give the example of the Waki Commission in Kenya. When Mwai Kibaki announced the commission, you saw its members: a Court of Appeal judge, someone else from another country. That very first commission, the foreign national, I think, was from Congo and another came from [New Zealand], if I’m not mistaken. And that commission had the power to recruit people to join the commission through a competitive process. .. It barred police officers from joining the commission or even applying. It hired an international investigator, it hired a gender expert. It did everything. And it used funding not just from the government, and it used buildings that weren’t government-owned. So in the end, people felt safe going to speak and tell their side, and when its report came out, it was public, and people trusted it.
So you find the rulers are unable to embrace truth, transparency and accountability, because it would lead them to lose those positions, because you can’t believe that in a democratic country 500 people could be killed. So there’s nothing, I mean, nothing can be done.
Khalifa Said: Okay. I was wondering, one year after what happened, what has actually changed? Changed in a way that, say, someone from seventh heaven came down here and saw there were changes, and perhaps could say these changes come from our experience of October 29, or perhaps for the worse, right? I mean, in your view, as a nation, do you think we’ve learned anything, from what happened on October 29? What do you think has changed, for better or for worse, for the better or for the worse, because of what… but of course, ideally for the better. Has anything changed in the way we do things as a country that you could say comes from the lessons we’ve drawn from what happened on October 29? Sister Ziada, do you think we’ve learned anything as a nation in the way we’re doing things now?
Ziada Seukindo: I’d say, I don’t know if it’s learning, but I believe that experience has resulted in a few things. One, on the citizens’ side: even though that event was meant to instil enormous fear, because you’re out on the street and see someone being killed, and there’s no consequence whatsoever for whoever did it, yet if you look, even online, people have become bold. People have become very bold. People will even go onto government pages using their real names and say it like it is, saying this here is going badly. Okay. Though we don’t know what happens to them afterwards, but I think that’s one thing.
Another thing I’d say, on the side of the government, and I think this even answers the question of what’s stopping us from taking action: what happened on October 29 has, I think, created an attitude on the government side of “How dare you?” I mean, how dare you do that? Just looking at the trend of statements coming out and so on, it’s “Why? Why did you…” I think that shouldn’t have been the emotion on their side, but I see it, I see it even at the very highest levels: “How dare you?” Okay. So there’s a kind of urge to punish, as if to say, “Why did you do this?”
Khalifa Said: Okay. Jebra, do you want to add?
Jebra Kambole: -What I want to add about what has changed: from what I see as I go around streets, it’s the number of police. If I go to Mwenge, they’re there; if I go to TAZARA, they’re there; if I go to Ubungo, there are vehicles full of them, 24/7. They’re always there. But I don’t see anything else. What I do see is that hatred keeps growing, because our friends who disappeared, to this day we don’t see them. If you ask where Soka is, where Mdude is, I don’t see them. So there’s nothing we can start to say has changed, unless I see them.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Yes, Massawe. Massawe, I want to ask you: where did we go wrong? as a nation, of course, and not just the government, but you in NGOs, us in the media, those in government, perhaps even religious institutions. Where did we slip up, for what happened on October 29 to happen? And looking at things now, do you see any course correction anywhere?
Fulgence Massawe: Prevention is always better than cure. All the warning signs were there. Tension within the country had always been there, and we didn’t act. So that’s mistake number one. But there’s also being divorced from reality, not believing that Tanzanians would reach a point where they too stand up. I once heard a Jenerali talking about Sierra Leone before the unrest. He said that, because they were Pan-Africanists, he used to say no country had citizens as gentle as Sierra Leone. And when it finally exploded, it was never the same again. So perhaps, too, we don’t learn from other countries about the warning signs that were there. We had the chance to fix things and move forward as a nation before we got there.
But what has been done to fix all that? I think we’re still living a lie, fooling ourselves. For example, believing Tanzanians can’t take action, or believing there are agitators from foreign countries I remember the cases that Jebra and others handled: more than 2,000 people were charged, and I didn’t see a single foreign national. They were all Tanzanians. The people who were buried, among the 518 the government acknowledges, I never saw a body being flown to Malawi, sent back to where they came from. So we believe what happened was done by Tanzanians, those affected were Tanzanians, and those still without relief are Tanzanians.
READ: Kivulini Talks: Tanzania After October 29—Where Do We Go From Here?
Okay. What has changed? There’s one more way we’re fooling ourselves. It wasn’t a single incident. Since then, there have been many incidents in between. The country has never been safe. On July 7 this year, there was turmoil. Saba Saba is a day we celebrate; we even take our children to the Saba Saba grounds. It’s a country at peace, people go, but it was the day people locked themselves indoors and people were arrested in numbers, and 57 people have been charged with terrorism. So the country we call an island of peace already has terrorists. Okay. Okay. So when we have these very serious charges, it shows us the country isn’t very safe either.
Khalifa Said: Thank you very much. Mama Helen, perhaps… Joel, do you want to chip in?
Joel Ntile: -I wanted to add something that changed after October 29. Since you said at a national level, I’ll talk about the media. Okay. Because of what happened, and how the media responded throughout that whole period, it’s a time when I personally witnessed the public become critical of the media like never before, especially if you follow social media, leading, to some extent, to where now some media outlets that for the past two, three, four, five years used to ignore certain kinds of stories, or stories about certain people, and drop them entirely, now you see everyone wanting to at least try.
We haven’t reached the point of saying the media is doing well, but everyone is now starting to see, trying at least to report even on some cases. There were many cases going on during that period, last year and the year before, that some outlets just didn’t report. But you see that after after the public, held the media to account by criticising them, yes, now at least some media outlets have started to pull themselves together and do their job. To me that’s one very important thing, and I see it on the media side.
Khalifa Said: Thank you very much, Joel. Mama Helen and Mama Lutgard, I have a question for all of you about those affected. I wanted to use the word “wahanga”, but you know Swahili speakers say the right word isn’t “mhanga”. So, for those affected, people left permanently disabled, injured, people who lost loved ones, what should closure look like for them? For someone who lost a husband, a wife, a child, a brother, a sister, how can we say what needs to happen for them to close that chapter and for life to go on? And do you think there are efforts to reach out to these people, talk to them, or do anything at all so that they get proper closure for their loss?
Helen Kijo Bisimba: Yes. To be honest, when you lose someone, there’s nothing that can make you feel better, nothing at all, except, first, words of comfort. Words of comfort help a great deal. But when you’ve lost someone and then hear things said about you that hurt even more, that doesn’t help. So the first thing should have been words of comfort. Those people should first, we should have accepted the truth that this happened and that it was terrible for people to go missing, or be killed, or be hurt.
And second, there are also good ways of offering comfort. That’s why we have what we call “rambirambi”, condolence contributions. Condolences don’t bring a person back, but at least they give someone some relief from how they feel. So those who lost relatives, for example, could have been consoled with kind words of comfort and even received those contributions we call rambirambi, though some of you lawyers might call it compensation. But you can’t compensate someone who has died. But even a little, though it doesn’t bring them back, it helps ease the pain.
Okay. What I see is that in this country there’s bitterness, because nothing was done. Some have been left disabled, some don’t know where their relatives are. It’s said they were buried somehow. There’s nothing worse than losing someone without seeing the body. You know, when you go to bury someone, when you see the person has died and you lower them into the grave, it brings some relief. But if you haven’t buried them, you don’t know if they’re alive or not, that deepens the pain. So the way I see it, for those people, their greatest comfort would be being shown that, and even being compensated.
Okay. Otherwise, the bitterness… You’ve seen how, when people hear someone has died, especially someone in government, people celebrate. Goodness, that’s not normal. That shows you the pain people are carrying, that they hear police officers have died and they celebrate. And here’s something that has changed: I met someone, and told him I thought I knew him. He was evasive, and much later, after we’d talked a long while, he told me, “You know, these days I’m even ashamed to say I used to be a police officer.” You see? So that, when someone is ashamed to say they used to be a police officer, because they know the harm that has been done. Okay. People have lost faith in those who were supposed to be trustworthy.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Mama Lutgard, as far as I understand, among the efforts being made, we had the Chande Commission, and now we have the Lila Commission, and we’ve been told we’re waiting for the Lila Commission, and then we’ll set up a reconciliation commission, and that reconciliation commission will then guide us on how to get a new Constitution, things like that. But in your view, what do you think could change in the next three months without waiting for a new Constitution? What could change without necessarly having to wait for a new Constitution to change it?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Honestly, I think we’re at a crossroads. We’re in the dark, and nothing can be done right now. We need an about- turn, I mean, when you turn round You know, because here she talks about giving condolences, offering sympathy, but people aren’t ready for that anymore. They won’t even accept those condolences. And when we talk about commissions, compare it with South Africa: there, people were united against the Boers. Here, it’s the party against the people, the ruling party, which is the one that could act. Where we are now, we need an about-turn led by someone different, other than those who did this, to be able to do something that makes sense. Expecting those who were involved to act, to offer condolences, we’re past that. We’ve reached the end of the road. So maybe we should reflect on what that about-turn should look like.
Khalifa Said: Okay. I wanted to ask, I believe the picture we’re painting here so far is very bleak, of where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we’re heading. Mama Lutgard says there’s deep darkness. I wanted to hear from you: despite things being this way, what, when you look at it, gives you hope that things can get better than they are now? I’ve noticed, for example, Joel touched on how some journalists and media outlets have woken up a little, so they’re pushing themselves to see how they can serve the public. Sister Ziada talked about people being more willing to speak their minds. These are things that give a little hope, but can we stay on that for a few minutes: what gives us hope as citizens who love our country, so you can say we’re in a bad place, but this one thing gives me hope that we can get somewhere, somewhere better? Who wants to go first?
Jebra Kambole: I think, for me, what gives me hope is that Tanzanians are still pressing on, I mean, they’re not backing down. And because there’s no transparency, no accountability, we expected, with the intimidation you see on the streets, the number of police and things like that, you might see people backing off, keeping their heads down and so on. But no, because we see there are still others who, despite facing difficulties, still speak out, still talk, still highlight the challenges visible in society, the same things we were talking about before October 29, we’re still talking about today: people being slapped with trumped-up charges, people being abducted.
If it were really frightening us, you’d see people not speaking. Even we wouldn’t be here talking; we’d say, “Look, if you speak, this happens, that happens.” But no. You still see Tanzanians are united, and that’s why, if you say something foolish, even online, they’ll hold you to account, they’ll call you out. So I think, yes, there’s still hope there, because Tanzanians still speak the truth and still demand truth, transparency and accountability. Yeah.
Khalifa Said: And for me, of course, what gives me hope is that at least you’re here, you answered the call to come and talk on difficult topic like this, we thank you.
My last question Let’s all take the chance to contribute. We have another general election in 2030, and, for example, if we want to avoid what happened on October 29, 2025, what should we do that will carry us not just through 2030, but through 2050, 2060, 3500? What should we do so that our country can be, as the national vision says, we envision a nation with three qualities: prosperous-developed inclusive, and democratic, democratic. What should we do right now so that, by 2050, or 2100, we’ll have got there? Who’ll start? I want everyone to weigh in, or will we get there?
Fulgence Massawe: Let me start. The main yardstick is, first, the recommendations made by the commission itself, as a starting point, even though perhaps we weren’t very happy with them. Recommendation number one is to see today commemorated, as the commission recommended. It said the 29th should be a day to commemorate and remember the suffering. Perhaps the commission saw grave things and concluded something wasn’t right.
What should be done? I think the nation is at a crossroads. It was at a crossroads, because every time, you hear everyone saying they want a new constitution, new constitution, new constitution, new constitution. Is as if we’ve found a shortcut to hide our problems by demanding a new constitution, we’ll get one and these problems won’t go away. You know why? First, the conditions for a new constitution aren’t there. The existing system, the parliament and its representatives, and the lack of trust, the conditions don’t allow for writing a new constitution. And second, our problem is constitutionalism, not the Constitution. Perhaps even the Constitution we have has shortcomings, but they’re not that serious. The Constitution has never said the [Electoral] Commission should be part of the government. It has never said Parliament should be in the government’s pocket. It has never said the judiciary should abandon its principles. So we have a problem with constitutionalism and with the Constitution itself.
But I’ve listed the commissions mentioned from the beginning, and we were deceived again, because with this commission, I’ve seen them put up billboards along the roads now, the criminal [justice] commission collecting views. I thought this commission would take that report and start summoning people, saying, “Today, police, we need this person. We summoned him, he didn’t come,” because he’s been named for reasons one, two, three. Instead, it’s out collecting views.
For us to move forward, let’s take those reports that were prepared in times that weren’t times of conflict, starting with Nyalali, through to Warioba, or the task force led by Mkandala. Let’s take all those recommendations and act on them in good faith, without shielding anyone or covering for anyone. And for the 29th, those responsible must be held accountable.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Thank you. Mama Helen, would you like to go?
Helen Kijo Bisimba: -Yeah. I think you said, for the 2030 election, what should we do to move forward better? I think the question
Khalifa Said: The more accurate question is that we have a vision, and our vision says we should have a nation that is sustainable, inclusive and democratic. If we want to get there, whether by 2030 or by 2050, and what will help us, looking back at what happened on October 29, what should change now?
Helen Kijo Bisimba: -Yeah. The biggest thing, I think, that has to change is, first, we must become truthful. We must stand by the truth. You know, once you’re truthful, that truth helps you. They say, and I’ve read it in scripture, it sets you free. It will set us free to do the things we’re supposed to do. But because we’ve committed ourselves to not being truthful, it becomes hard. So if we make the effort, that vision will mean something. If we accept the truth, that truth will help us move forward and be free. That truth, as Masawe says, will shine a light on the things that should have been done since the 1990s, which we don’t want to do. We have very good cases that have produced rulings, even at the African Court, but we don’t want to implement them.
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Now, we Tanzanians could… You know, the problem is that we trust the few people we’ve entrusted with leading us, and even when they don’t lead us properly, we just sit and watch. What’s needed, if we’re to achieve that vision, is for Tanzanians to refuse when we need to refuse, to refuse to do things we see as wrong. Eh, refuse, for example, when we’re told there’s a commission and then denied its report, and we just sit there wondering, even though our hearts know it’s wrong. Let’s be truthful and accept the truth, and when it’s denied, we Tanzanians must know that this country is ours. Those we entrust with power are few, and when they do wrong, we should find a way to remove them through the proper means.
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: And as my colleagues said, Tanzanians have woken up. You saw that young man who went and wrote on the wall “So-and-so is not a traitor”. Who would have expected that? So I have faith the time will come, and our God is with us. We’ll wake up and do what’s best. But if we rely on them, it’s darkness; we won’t get anywhere.
Khalifa Said: Okay.
Jebra Kambole: I think I’ll build on where my colleague here left off: on the resilience she’s talking about, 90 percent of the responsibility for that tolerance lies with the government, because the people being charged, accused, taken to the police, questioned and prosecuted, it’s the government that decides. So if it makes the right decision, that we simply have to move forward, we can get past 2030. But the way things are going, I don’t see us getting through, because we haven’t embraced transparency, truth and accountability.
With the commissions that my colleagues Fulgence and Dr Helen talked about, taking all the documents and acting on them, if in the end we set up a commission that isn’t inclusive, whatever it comes up with, no one will listen to it. So people must be allowed… If you say you want a TLS representative, we’ll choose our own; an NGO representative, they’ll come. But there has to be inclusion, and people have to trust it. If people don’t trust it, then whatever you do, you’ll be pounding water in a mortar.
Khalifa Said: Okay. Sister Ziada.
Ziada Seukindo: Ah, I’d say, ‘Bad Banyan but his shoe is important’ Justice Chande’s commission, even though, of course, we weren’t satisfied with how it was formed, they laid out the triggers that they believe drove what happened. Of course, they generalised, but it really sums up what civil society, activists and various groups have been complaining about, because they listed political reasons, economic reasons, problems with public institutions not addressing people’s complaints, and they mentioned a new Constitution. So if we look at those triggers, and actually unpack and analyse them, they sum up exactly the things people have been complaining about. So if we just address those triggers with genuine intent, I believe we can avoid a repeat of what happened.
Khalifa Said: Mr Joel.
Joel Ntile: I’ll very briefly add to what Ziada said. Despite the many problems and all the criticism of the Chande Commission, one important thing you should, that I take from it, is that it gives us a starting point, as Ziada said, citing the triggers it identified. Justice Chande, on the day of his speech, said there has also been arrogance from some leaders towards the public, not just at the top but even down at the grassroots, among those who deal with citizens, and that has led to deep resentment among the people towards their leaders. And we still see that.
Just look, eh, we may have criticisms of these tours some government leaders are making, but look at the issues raised by the people there. It shows you how we have people who, first, it gives you two pictures. First, we have a huge problem with the justice system in this country. And second, it also shows you, down at the grassroots, what serious problems ordinary people face with the officials on the ground. And that’s something Justice Chande pointed out, and we keep seeing it.
So all of that tells me that we need major changes to reach those Vision 2050 goals and to achieve a country that is democratic, inclusive and sustainable. So we first need, major reforms to the criminal justice system, major reforms to the electoral system, and also major reforms to make sure citizens are empowered, to end the arrogance of those who are given, or who hold, certain offices and power, so that they’re afraid. Leaders should fear the people, whether a village leader, a village executive officer, a district council official or a national leader. We really need to change that to get there.
Khalifa Said: Thank you very much, Joel. Thank you all so much, my panellists, for such sharp insights and substantive views. They say you have to believe it to make it, so if we don’t believe that, by 2050, Tanzania can be a democratic, inclusive and sustainable country, it’ll be hard to become one. So we have to believe we have to believe we can be. Thank you all so much for your time and for accepting our invitation to come and talk with us here.
Dear viewer of The Chanzo, with that, we’ve come to the end of the conversation we’ve been having here with my brothers and sisters, mothers about one year on from October 29, 2025. We saw what happened that year, and we’ve been discussing here whether, as a nation, we’ve made any meaningful progress since what took place. You’ve heard views, analysis and a range of opinions, and you too can have your say on what we discussed here in the comment section of our YouTube channel.
Until next time, I wish you happy viewing of the other content we produce here at The Chanzo. My name is Khalifa Said, and on behalf of all my colleagues behind the camera and my panelists here, thank you so much. Until next time, goodbye.
