Kenyan activists to show solidarity in planned TZ protests
Human rights activists address journalists at the Kenya Human Rights Commission offices.
Kenyan activists are planning to demonstrate in Nairobi in solidarity with Tanzanians as regional pressure mounts over what rights groups describe as an escalating human rights crisis across Tanzania.
This comes even as the Kenyan High Commission in Tanzania last week issued a security advisory warning of possible unrest during Independence Day activities today (Tuesday).
Tanzania was to mark its sixty-fourth Independence Day celebrations today, but this was cancelled by the government, which instead asked citizens to stay at their homes, saying there would be no fanfare to mark the day as is the norm.
The protest organisers have officially notified the Nairobi Region Police Commander, George Sedah, of their planned procession to the Tanzanian Embassy, through a letter seen by the Nation, that was signed by Nicholas Oyoo, Secretary General of the Free Kenya Movement.
Tanzanian riot police disperse demonstrators during violent protests that marred the election following the disqualification of the two leading opposition candidates in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, October 29, 2025.
Former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, Free Kenya Movement President Bob Njagi, and Vocal Africa’s Ojiro Odhiambo led the press briefing of a Pan-African solidarity statement in Nairobi on Monday, condemning the violent repression unfolding under President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Professor Kibwana said the regional civic community could not stay silent.
“State violence and mass arrests cannot be normalised. Tanzanians deserve democracy, dignity and life,” he said.
The activists say digital blackouts, throttling and takedowns on platforms such as Meta and X have been deployed to hide evidence of abuses that were reported during last month's General elections.
Mr Njagi said the brutality borrowed its script from historic authoritarian patterns across the continent.
“This is not disorder; it is a system. When you disappear bodies, raid hospitals, intimidate religious leaders and terrorise communities, you are governing through fear,” he said.
Ojiro Odhiambo, who read out the coalition’s demands, said the situation in Tanzania had crossed every red line.
“We demand the immediate cessation of all forms of violence, repression and arbitrary arrests and immediate release of all detainees and dropping of politically-motivated charges, with guaranteed access to legal representation,” he said.
Mr Odhiambo said the full list of demands reflected the desperation on the ground.
The coalition is also calling for the resignation and exit from office of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the disbanding of all illegal security formations, including militia-style groups, and the prosecution of security, intelligence and military officials implicated in killings, abductions and mass intimidation.
He said the activists also want full restoration of internet access, an end to digital censorship, and reinstatement of deleted testimonies and cautioned technology companies to stop suppression and aiding the Tanzanian government in tracking and arresting citizens.
Mr Njagi urged citizens across East Africa to stand firm against repression.
“Tanzania’s pain is not theirs alone. When one state normalises violence, the entire region is put at risk,” he said.
Professor Kibwana condemned the Tanzanian government for cancelling the celebrations, saying it is unheard of anywhere in Africa, even adding that if the country’s founding father, Julius Nyerere, were to visit Tanzania, “he would go back to where he has been because it is unheard of”.
If Samia was able to garner 98 per cent of the Tanzanian votes, Prof Kibwana said, then she would not have cancelled the celebrations. Her act, the former Mkaueni county boss said, is a testament that she knows she is not legitimate.
“The youth across Africa are not ready for dictatorship, even if you kill them, they come back. The solution is not to kill, arrest or torture them. This is a new generation that really wants freedom as it happened during independence,” he said.
