President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the landslide winner of the October election after her main challengers were excluded, prompting protests that were partly driven by what activists said was a wider crackdown on dissent.

Rights groups, opposition parties and the United Nations have said hundreds of people were likely killed in clashes between the protesters and security forces. The government denies suppressing dissent and disputes those figures as exaggerated.

Police Spokesperson David Misime said they were yet to receive any formal notifications from anyone wishing to hold demonstrations, after social media posts circulated calling for protests on December 9.

“The Police Force is banning these demonstrations, which have been given the name of ‘unlimited peaceful protests’, from taking place,” he said in a statement.

Misime said those mobilising for protest were, among other things, urging participants to seize property, disrupt services at hospitals and to stay on the streets for an unlimited time to paralyse economic activity.

On Wednesday, a United Nations human rights experts group urged Tanzanian authorities and security forces to protect people’s right to assembly and prevent any more violations ahead of the planned demonstrations.

Hassan has promised to investigate the election violence and offered condolences to bereaved families, her most public acknowledgement of the turmoil, which has led to the country’s biggest political crisis in decades.

“We hear there is another one planned … whenever they come, we are prepared,” Hassan told a meeting of elders in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, referring to the planned demonstrations.

The United States said on Thursday it was reviewing its relationship with Tanzania due to concerns over religious freedom, free speech, obstacles to U.S. investment and violence against civilians.

Tanzania’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had noted with concern separate statements by the European Union delegation, the U.N. Human Rights Council and several countries including the United States, Ghana, Belgium, Canada and Denmark.

“Tanzania remains committed to constructive international cooperation for peace and development and respectfully calls upon all stakeholders to allow national mechanisms to implement steps and measures taken by the government,” it said in a statement.

–Reuters

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President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who took office in 2021 after the death of her predecessor, took more than 97% of the vote, according to an official tally. Her main rivals, Tundu Lissu of Chadema and Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo, were barred from running in what rights groups have called a climate of repression. There were enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings, according to Amnesty International. Tanzania’s government has denied it.

While Hassan is the main subject of anger in Tanzania, critics have asserted that others share the blame, claiming that Africa’s only female head of state is largely a figurehead. Here is a look at five key political figures:

Hassan is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and chairperson of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi party, which has ruled Tanzania since independence from Britain in 1961. Her share of this vote was the highest ever in a presidential race since the start of multi-party politics in 1992. Hassan has “overseen an unprecedented crackdown on political opponents,” with Chadema banned from participating in elections and its leader, Lissu, charged with treason after he urged electoral reforms, the International Crisis Group has said in its assessment.

Hassan’s critics assert that she has surrounded herself with loyalists from Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous archipelago where she was born. That has led to fears of factionalism within the ruling party. The Zanzibar clique “lacks extensive experience of government,” William Farmer, an analyst with the London-based Africa Practice consulting firm, told The Associated Press.

Kikwete is Tanzania’s only surviving former president. He has remained influential in politics since he left the presidency in 2015 and was instrumental in the orderly transition of power when Hassan’s predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, died in office in 2021.

Many Tanzanians see Kikwete as a key behind-the-scenes supporter of Hassan, and they have criticized him over the election violence. He has not addressed such allegations publicly. Kikwete is also seen as representing foreign business interests keen to maintain political stability, said Tito Magoti, a human rights lawyer in Dar es Salaam.

Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi


Nchimbi is a former interior minister and outgoing secretary-general of the ruling party. He and Hassan were inaugurated on Monday in the administrative capital, Dodoma. Nchimbi is seen as a classic party ideologue who is well-placed for a possible presidential run when Hassan’s term ends in five years.

Hassan’s son

One of Hassan’s key advisors is her son, Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir. While he has held no formal role in Hassan’s government, some critics claim he was a key organizer of the latest crackdown, according to Farmer. Humphrey Polepole, Tanzania’s former ambassador to Cuba who was taken from his home last month and remains missing, had his diplomatic status revoked after he criticized Hassan’s leadership style and claimed that Ameir was operating as an informal intelligence chief. Ameir has not addressed such allegations publicly.

Former regional commissioner Paul Makonda

Makonda, a former regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam, is a high-ranking member of the ruling party and Hassan ally. He is among those “most likely to get plum roles” in the next administration, according to Farmer. The U.S. in 2020 sanctioned Makonda, saying he was “implicated in oppression of the political opposition, crackdowns on freedom of expression and association, and the targeting of marginalized individuals.”

AP

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After the protests broke out on Wednesday, the government shut down the internet, imposed a curfew and deployed the military to the streets.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi or CCM party, which has been in power since independence in 1961, sought to extend its rule in Wednesday’s election, with presidential candidates from the two main opposition parties barred from running.

The incumbent, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, faced 16 other candidates from smaller parties who barely campaigned.

The electoral body on Thursday announced through state television that President Hassan had taken an early lead, garnering 96.99% of the votes in 8 out of 272 constituencies tallied early Thursday.

Lawmakers from the European Parliament said in a statement Thursday that the elections in Tanzania were “neither free nor fair” and urged democratic partners to “stand firm in the defense of democracy and human rights.”

Turnout during Wednesday’s election was low, and chaos broke out in the afternoon as protesters burned a bus and a gas station, attacked police stations and vandalized polling centers.

Two people, a civilian and a police officer, died in Wednesday’s protests, according to Amnesty International. The government has yet to comment about casualties in the ongoing protests.

Tanzania’s government imposed a curfew Wednesday evening in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, where most protests had occurred, but protests continued late into the night.

The government asked public servants to work from home on Thursday to limit the movement of nonessential staff.

Roadblocks manned by the Tanzanian army were erected across the country, with those approaching them turned away if they could not prove they were essential workers.

Hundreds of protesters breached security barriers to access a road leading to the country’s main airport but were unable to enter.

Amnesty International called for investigations into the use of force on protesters by police.

Several protesters were injured in the town of Namanga, on the border with Kenya, as demonstrators lit bonfires on the highway and police fired tear gas to disperse them.

Business people said the protests had halted business operations in the usually busy border town.

Ferry services from the Tanzanian mainland to the semiautonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, whose electoral body is expected to announce results Thursday, were also suspended.

Tanzanians cast ballots for a president, members of parliament and ward councilors.

The main opposition leader Tundu Lissu remains in prison after he was charged with treason for calling for electoral reforms. The presidential candidate for the second largest opposition party, Luhaga Mpina, was barred from running.

-AP

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Internet connectivity was disrupted across the country shortly after hundreds of protesters in the Kimara and Ubungo neighborhoods of Dar es Salamm set a rapid transport bus and a gas station ablaze. Local media reported that there were protests in Magomeni, Kinondoni and Tandale neighborhoods in the city.

The U.S Embassy in Tanzania issued a security alert due to what it called “country-wide” protests in multiple locations.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is seeking a second term, belongs to the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party that has governed the country since it gained independence in 1961. Human rights organizations have accused her administration of arresting, detaining and intimidating critics and opposition members.

Netblocks, an internet access advocacy group, confirmed the outage on election day, saying on X that “live network data show a nationwide disruption to internet connectivity.” Just before the disruption was confirmed, users noted an internet slowdown in the East African country.

Dar es Salaam District Commissioner Alfred Chalamila told journalists that the security agencies were ready to deal with any “disruptors of peace” adding that the country would not lose its “long culture of peace.”

Voting was due to end at 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), after which vote tallying was to begin. Preliminary results were expected within 24 hours, but the electoral commission has up to seven days to announce the final outcome.

A spot check across dozens of polling stations revealed a low turnout especially among younger voters.

Hassan, who cast his ballot in the legislative capital, Dodoma, urged Tanzanians to turn out in large numbers to vote.

A university student, James Matonya, told the AP he didn’t vote because the election was a “one-horse race.”

The leader of the main opposition CHADEMA party, Tundu Lissu, is in prison and faces treason charges after calling for electoral reforms, while the candidate of the second-largest opposition party was barred from running.

Amnesty International said the atmosphere around the polls was characterized by fear, saying it had verified cases of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings ahead of the polls. The rights group said alleged abuses by the security forces undermine the legitimacy of the election.

Hassan seeks her first full term in office after completing the term of her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, who died suddenly in 2021. Sixteen opposition candidates representing smaller parties are also on the ballot.

Tanzania has more than 37 million registered voters, a 26% increase from 2020, but that growth in voter registration is not likely to lead to more people going to the polls, analysts warn, citing apathy over the perception that Hassan will cruise to victory unchallenged.

An opposition party in Tanzania’s archipelago of Zanzibar, ACT Wazalendo, alleged that early voting on Tuesday — electoral and security officials cast ballots — was marred by irregularities that included voters impersonating security officials and the barring of party representatives by electoral officials.

The electoral commission said it had followed the law in conducting Tuesday’s early vote.

-AP

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