Tanzania cracks down on senior opposition leaders

Authorities in Tanzania are now targeting senior opposition leaders across the country, the latest being the detention of Chadema’s Deputy Secretary General, Amani Golugwa, in Arusha on Saturday morning.

Before his arrest, police had circulated names of 10 people among them senior Chadema party leaders asking them to present themselves to the police.

Chadema released a statement on Saturday, confirming Golugwa’s arrest and condemned the continuing wave of detentions, which it claims is a deliberate attempt by the government to cripple the party’s leadership. 

“After the arrests of Golugwa, Lema, and Jacob, only three of the party’s six top leaders remain free, following the earlier detentions of party chairperson Tundu Lissu and vice-chairperson John Heche,” said Chadema.

Journalists from a private media outlet The Chanzo Initiative, reported that Boniface Jacob, a member of the party’s central Committee, was also taken into custody later Saturday.

Mainstream media in Tanzania have restrained themselves from giving the protests prominent coverage for fear of their practicing licenses being cancelled.

Godbless Lema is a Chadema central committee member and a former MP. He was allegedly arrested in the Usa River area on Saturday. 

He was reportedly bundled into a vehicle that headed towards Moshi, in Kilimanjaro province.

CBC News had also reported on Saturday that Tanzania was seeking to arrest senior opposition figures it blames for deadly protests that swept the country during last week’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Those who were being sought for arrest included Chadema’s Secretary General, John Mnyika and the party’s head of communications, Brenda Rupia.

Human rights activists told Reuters that security forces killed more than 1,000 people. The government has called those numbers exaggerated without offering its own death toll.

It was also reported that 240 people arrested in the crackdown after the protests, have been charged for allegedly committing treason across the country.

“The police force, in collaboration with other defense and security agencies, is continuing a serious manhunt to find all who planned, co-ordinated and executed this evil act,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.

Treason is a capital offence punishable by death sentence in Tanzania, although no one has been hanged or executed since 1995.

Following the unprecedented protests in the nation’s history, which erupted on election day, October 29, 2025, hundreds of young people were killed in cities and towns.

Boniface Mwabukusi, President of the Tanganyika Law Society, denounced the charges as a “mockery of justice” in a statement posted on his X account.

Treason charges had been levelled against more than 240 people in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Njombe by Saturday afternoon.

Treason is a capital offence punishable by death sentence in Tanzania, although no one has been hanged or executed since 1995.

The Chanzo Initiative reported that the accused, aged between16 to 37, intented to obstruct the 2025 general election with the purpose of intimidating the executive branch of government. They allegedly manifested the intent by causing serious damage to government properties.

Among those charged is Jennifer Bilikwija Jovin, a 26-year-old businesswoman and social media influencer known as ‘Niffer,’ who was arrested on October 27, 2025 two days before the election.

While 21 others in her case are charged in relation to the October 29 protests, Jovin faces a distinct treason charge.

From a court charge reported, it is alleged that between August 1 and October 24, Jovin manifested her intent to obstruct the election by “encouraging the general public to purchase tear gas masks from her business centre so as to protect themselves from police tear gas during unlawful demonstrations.”

Prosecutors allege that between August 1 and October 24, she manifested her intent to obstruct the election by “encouraging the general public to purchase tear gas masks from her business centre so as to protect themselves from police tear gas during unlawful demonstrations.”

It is reported that among those charged with her, includes peasants, drivers, businessmen and at least two minors aged 16 and 17.

Boniface Mwabukusi, President of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), denounced the charges as a “mockery of justice” in a statement posted on his X account. He declared the charges “oppressive and unjust” and pledged that the TLS would coordinate and ensure every accused person receives a full legal defence. 

“It is shameful that those who should be charged are today the ones opening charges against victims,” Mr Mwabukusi wrote, calling for an independent international investigation.

Media outlets in Tanzania, also cited a coalition of seven civil society organisations, including the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and Twaweza, condemning what they said were gross human rights violations surrounding the election. 

They condemned the killing of unarmed civilians, arbitrary arrests, and the confirmed deaths of at least two journalists, one killed at his home in Temeke, and Kelvin Lameck Mwakangondya of Baraka FM, who died while on duty in Mbeya on elections day.

The statement also highlighted the alleged arrest of approximately 312 people in the Kilimanjaro region alone.

An opposition party councillor-elect and ten other members of ACT Wazalendo party have been charged with armed robbery and arson following an attack on a government office in Kigoma on election day. 

Juma Mzee Shaban, the only ACT Wazalendo candidate to win a council seat in the Kigoma Ujiji municipality, was among the eleven people who appeared before the Kigoma District Court on November 7, 2025.