Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is witnessing a massive crackdown against members of the country’s opposition parties not seen since President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed willingness to implement measures to improve political pluralism in the East African nation, including freeing political prisoners and lifting a ban on political rallies.
As of Monday afternoon, police across the country had arrested dozens of opposition members and officials, mainly from CHADEMA and ACT-Wazalendo. The crackdown has also involved police banning political rallies that opposition parties planned to organise in some parts of the country and authorities banning internal opposition meetings.
CHADEMA deputy secretary general (Tanzania Mainland) Benson Kigaila told a press conference Monday that police have arrested about 443 CHADEMA members and officials since August 10, 2024, adding that many of them are held unlawfully. Police arrested many in Dar es Salaam, Iringa, Dodoma, and Rukwa.
On August 11, police arrested 110 CHADEMA youth in Iringa who were en route to Mbeya to participate in the party’s commemoration of the 2024 International Youth Day, organised by the party’s youth wing BAVICHA. Mr Kigaiya told journalists that the party doesn’t know the whereabouts of many of its arrested members and officials, noting that police refuse to let them know the locations.
Leaders arrested
Police also arrested CHADEMA’s top brass, starting with its deputy national chairperson (Tanzania Mainland) Tundu Lissu, the guest of honour in the planned BAVICHA Youth Day commemoration. On August 11, police arrested Mr Lissu alongside the party’s secretary general, John Mnyika and the party’s zonal chairperson, Joseph Mbilinyi. In the crackdown, police also arrested five journalists from CHADEMA Media (2), Jambo TV (2), and Mwanzo TV (1).
Police in Mbeya also arrested CHADEMA national chairperson Freeman Mbowe in the early hours of Monday. Mr Mbowe, who was not to participate in the planned commemoration, had flown to Mbeya to speak with the police there, hoping to reach an understanding that would secure the release of detained party members and officials. He also hoped that the police would let the youth of CHADEMA proceed with their planned commemoration.
“The message that police send here is that anyone who’ll go to them to ask about the whereabouts of our members and officials will also be arrested,” Mr Kigaila told journalists in Dar es Salaam. “Because otherwise, they would not arrest our party chairperson. It means they will also arrest us to prevent us from anyone from speaking. But we will not let that happen.”
In Dar es Salaam, police reportedly blocked a rally organised by ACT-Wazalendo’s youth wing in Mbagala, a charge the force denied. Reports on social media also alleged that police arrested at least three party officials who had turned up at the meeting. ACT-Wazalendo secretary general Ado Shaibu said the party would ignore the ban and proceed with the rally. The party also issued a statement calling for the police to release all detained CHADEMA members and officials.
Many others have condemned the police’s treatment of opposition members and officials, with ACT-Wazalendo deputy national chairperson (Tanzania Mainland) Isihaka Mchinjita describing the police’s actions as “an attack on democracy” in an X post. Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC) also condemned the police’s measures, calling them “unconstitutional and illegal,” demanding “an immediate and unconditional release” of all detainees. Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) reminded the police to operate constitutionally and lawfully, calling on the release of all detained opposition members and officials.
Gen Z protests
The crackdown that continues to dominate debates in many social media platforms occurs against the background of authorities’ expressed fear of what is happening in other countries, such as Kenya, where youth-led anti-government protests, popularly referred to as Gen Z protests, have led to the deterioration of political stability.
READ MORE: How Are Tanzanians Reacting to Global Gen Z Protests?
On Sunday, police’s chief in charge of operations and training, Awadh Haji made it explicitly clear why the law enforcement authority won’t allow the planned youth day commemoration by CHADEMA youth to go as planned, citing statements by some of the party’s officials referring to the Kenyan protests as a reason.
One such statement comes from BAVICHA mobilisation officer Twaha Mwaipaya, who mobilised people in Mbeya to show up for the commemoration, saying the youth will convene in the region to decide on the future of their country. Mwaipaya added that they’re serious, just like their Kenyan colleagues.
“They say their colleagues in Kenya did what they did and want to mobilise the same here in Tanzania,” Haji told a press conference. “Now, they should not dare to try it. When we say we’ll take strict measures, we mean it; anyone who will dare us, we will properly deal with them according to the laws.”
The police commissioner said the law enforcement agency does not believe that CHADEMA youth only sought to mark International Youth Day. He pointed out that the force believes the party’s youth planned to use the day as a cover for actions that would put the country’s safety in jeopardy.
“This is exactly why we say that such commemorations have been prohibited,” Mr Haji added. “And when we say it is prohibited, we mean prohibited in capital letters. We appeal to all law-abiding Tanzanians to ignore calls to participate in such commemoration organised by few people with ulterior motives.”
Unfortunate outcome
Dr Muhidin Shangwe teaches political science at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). He believes that the fear of having a replication in Tanzania of what has been happening in Kenya has informed the police’s sharp and wholesale crackdown against CHADEMA youth’s planned commemoration of Youth Day in Mbeya.
READ MORE: Samia Shouldn’t Risk Her Reform Agenda By Listening to Her Machiavellian Advisors
“Police fear that the Kenyan protests can inspire the Tanzanian youth to take some actions,” Dr Shangwe commented. “Maybe not necessarily to protest in the way their Kenyan colleagues did, but they can inspire some ideas and actions and start to ask some difficult questions.”
One such question that the university don thinks some Tanzanian youth can ask is the source of wealth and opulence, which he says politicians frequently flaunt publicly in the face of severe hardship that the common Tanzanian folk regularly complain about.
“The opulence and the audacity to show it off definitely raises eyebrows among many Tanzanian youth, regardless of how politicians got that wealth,” Shangwe added. “When young people are desperate for jobs, and families struggle to put food on the table, showing off Range Rovers and other lavish lifestyles will consequently get people asking some questions, which I think are very relevant.”
He describes authorities’ approach to preventing anti-government protests in Tanzania as ineffective, noting that suppressing some uncomfortable but legitimate views is unsustainable. He urges the government to listen to the cries of the Tanzanian youth and find ways to address their issues of concern. Instead of leading a crackdown, Dr Shangwe thinks authorities need to answer the youth’s questions.
“The ongoing crackdown is unfortunate, to say the least, because it doesn’t portray our country in any positive picture,” he noted. “It is also very bad for President Samia, who created an impression that her administration will signal the beginning of new politics in Tanzania. It’s against her 4Rs philosophy. It’s just bad. It doesn’t send a good message; it provides a feeling of déjà vu for many observers. We’ve been here before, which conveys that nothing has substantially changed.”
