A series of abductions and killings of opposition activists that has recently rocked Tanzania, has effectively cemented the opposition’s resolve for legal and democratic reforms in the run-up to the General Election.
Tanzania is set to hold municipal elections at the end of November and a General Election next year, and the pre-election political alignments have created friction between the ruling party and its rivals.
It has also impacted the public service, which has seen several mini shuffles as President Samia Suluhu Hassan reorganises her government to face the elections.
But the killings, enforced disappearances and abductions of political activists has rattled the country, with the opposition party Chadema, whose members are most affected by the alleged State-sponsored repression, planning countrywide protests.
The Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo leadership has called protests in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam on September 23, after the expiry of an ultimatum to the government to produce all the missing individuals – alive or dead – by September 21.
Meanwhile, the parties feel that while justice must be sought for victims and survivors of what they believe is security agents brutality, the latest crisis has exposed the legal loopholes that perpetrate impunity among the abductors, who seem to go unchallenged, and hence the critical need to conclude the stalled constitutional review to guarantee people’s rights and freedoms and institute punitive measures for perpetrators of extra-judicial actions.
The latest wave of protests was triggered by the brutal killing of Ali Mohamed Kibao, a 69-year-old former intelligence officer and a member of Chadema's national secretariat, who was grabbed out of a public bus in broad daylight, only for his body to be found days later beaten, bruised and doused with acid.
Kibao was reportedly forced off a bus at gunpoint by suspected security agents on September 6, while travelling from Dar es Salaam to his hometown Tanga.
Chadema leader Freeman Mbowe says five other party officials have recently gone missing, but one appeared in court after several weeks in custody and was denied bail.
"We have resolved to demonstrate in bid to protect our lives and our country,” Mr Mbowe said while announcing the planned mass action.
During the reign of the late John Magufuli, Samia’s predecessor, there were numerous cases of abductions, enforced disappearances, and successful and attempted assassinations.
Mr Lissu, a fierce critic of Magufuli, survived by the skin of his teeth when, on September 7, 2017, unidentified gunmen sprayed his vehicle with bullets in Dodoma in broad daylight, leaving him for dead.
He underwent close to 20 surgeries to remove bullets form his body and survived to challenge Magufuli to the presidency in 2020. He lost miserably in an election deemed not free and fair.
Mr Lissu is preparing for another stab at the presidency, this time against Samia of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), and he has trained his guns on her.
This week, he told The EastAfrican that the notion that President Samia was better than her predecessor Magufuli was mistaken.
“We should have been aware that President Samia belongs to the same old system and that the system did not change with her becoming the president. The demise of Magufuli was an opportunity for us to press very hard for reforms. The result is that she consolidated power and now she is showing her true colours.”
The US, the European Union and rights and business lobbies have come out to condemn the killing of Ali Kibao.
In a statement on September 9, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam called for “an independent, transparent, and prompt investigation into ongoing abductions and the murder of Kibao.”
“Murder and disappearances, as well as last month’s detentions, beatings, and other efforts to disenfranchise citizens ahead of elections, should have no place in a democracy. These brutal acts undermine rights guaranteed by the Tanzanian Constitution. We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Mr Kibao and the country for the loss of his life and civic leadership,” a statement from the mission said.
Rights group Amnesty International described mass arrests of youthful Chadema supporters earlier in August while going to celebrate International Youth Day as a “deeply worrying sign” in the run-up to local government elections in December and general elections due next year.
President Samia came out to condemn the kidnappings, terming them “brutal acts” and called for an investigation into the murder of Kibao.
“I have ordered the investigation agencies to bring me detailed information about this terrible incident and others like this as soon as possible,” she posted on social media platform X.
“Our country is a democracy, and every citizen has the right to live.”
The President’s response was timely as she prepares to head for New York for the United Nations General Assembly, perhaps in the knowledge that the matter is attracting international attention.
There had been hopes that Tanzania was entering a period of democratic and legal regime transition under President Samia, who took over from John Magufuli when he died suddenly in March 2021.
But now Kibao’s death and disappearances before his, highlight a clampdown on political activity, especially among opposition members.
Some CCM officials have even come out publicly to call for violence against critics of the Samia administration, triggering massive condemnation from the Tanzanian public, especially on social media.
Mr Lissu says Tanzania is paying the price for failing to press for governance and constitutional reforms that would have resulted in the government's respect for the rule of law, the constitution and human rights.
“Even though nobody was expecting that to happen in Tanzania, in the past few months there has been a wave of abductions and disappearances of opposition party activists,” he said. “As we speak five of our leaders are missing after they were abducted four or five months ago, and this has been on the rise. So, Kibao’s killing was just part of the trend and did not come out of the blue.”
He condemned the government’s crackdown on opposition leaders and those who want reforms through constitutional means, saying Kibao’s death has inspired them to work harder for a better Tanzania.
“We are going to continue pressing hard for reforms. This expectation that this is a lady and therefore she would be sympathetic and listen to us has really cost us. We have now to focus on institutional and constitutional reforms,” the opposition chief said.
Another Tanzanian lawyer and human rights activist, Tito Magoti, also cited five members of the opposition whom he alleged were abducted by the police, and called for independent, international investigations units to assist unravel their cases.
“Deusdedith Soka, Jacob Godwin Mlay and Frank Mbise and two others were abducted,” Mr Magoti told The EastAfrican on phone.
“There are rising cases where people have come out saying they can’t trace their relatives and the number is rising day by day. I have also been warned that I could be targeted.”
Mr Soka was allegedly abducted on August 18, 2024, in the Buza area, along with two colleagues, Jacob Godwin Mlay and Frank Mbise. Soka and Mlay are leaders of Chadema in Temeke, while Mbise is a motorcycle rider who worked for Soka.
Lawyers Paul Kisabo, Peter Madeleka and Deogratius Mahinyila filed a petition in court to force the police to produce them and, on August 28, 2024, the High Court ruled that there was no evidence that the police were holding Mr Soka and his three colleagues.
Their trail has hence grown cold and members of the opposition are worried about the marauding abductors, who have no regard for the rule of law.
“The most important thing today is the personal safety of the common man, because people cannot fully participate in the political arena when they are not safe. There should be a guarantee of safety for the Tanzanian citizen,” Mr Magoti said.
“Safety guarantees freedom of movement, speech and political participation in governance, to the extent that if the people were guaranteed safety, they would be free to participate in the political discourse.”
He is worried that the ongoing political crackdown on the opposition will scare away voters come 2025 because of what he termed as a “police state.”
“The president should come out openly and guarantee that this is not going to happen. If not, we assume that her government apparatus is responsible for the current abductions,” the lawyer said. The opposition wants to jumpstart the Constitution review to help fix the emerging problems that Tanzanians hoped were past in the new regime.
When she rose to power, President Samia eased some of the restrictions on political activity and media, signalling a freer, more democratic future.
On January 3, 2023, she lifted a seven-year ban on public political rallies imposed by Magufuli in 2016, earning praise from reform champions in and outside the country, amid expectations that Tanzania’s civic space was being fully restored after being ruthlessly constricted in the Magufuli era.
Lissu and Godbless Lema, who had been forced into exile by Magufuli, returned home and the opposition parties resumed their mass mobilisation in preparation for the 2024 local government elections and the general election in 2025.
She even kickstarted talks on Katiba but she seems to have slowed down in the countdown to the next election cycle. A year ago, it occurred to Tanzanians that they would have to wait until 2027 for the new constitution, after the government said there was a need for “at least three years of civic education.”
The move effectively means President Samia will go for re-election under the existing constitution, which opposition groups have criticised for perpetuating a lopsided playfield.
The recent crackdown on the opposition cements these fears, hence the push for the review to be put back on track.
