By SANGULA SANGA in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (MOZTIMES) - It has been nearly a month since Tanzania’s general elections on 29 October, and fear and uncertainty continue to grip the nation. Families are still searching for relatives who disappeared amid the violent unrest that erupted on election day.
Desperate citizens have scoured mortuaries, police stations, and hospitals in search of their loved ones often without success. Rumors and contradictory reports circulate widely, with some claiming that those who remain missing may have been killed and secretly buried by the authorities.
Courts have become another focal point for anxious families, as some attempt to determine whether their relatives are among those are brought in the morning and charged in connection with the unrest. While some have been accounted for, many others remain untraced. To some extent, people still believe in courts, although there have been incidents where courts have been accused of suppressing the opposition. In some instances, opposition leaders have been denied bail without justification, and their cases have faced lengthy delays. For example, the treason charges against the main opposition party leader, Tundu Lissu, have been repeatedly postponed for months without any credible reason.
Election day, Wednesday, 29 October, began quietly. Most citizens stayed home, observing the public holiday declared to facilitate voting. Polling stations in Dar es Salaam were initially nearly deserted, giving the lie to government claims of a massive turnout. By 11 a.m., the calm broke. Groups of youths began to converge across Dar es Salaam, as well as in Arusha, in Songwe particularly near the Tunduma border with Zambia, and in Mwanza, the second largest city in Tanzania.
The police responded swiftly, deploying tear gas and rubber bullets in attempts to disperse the crowds. But the unrest quickly escalated into full-scale confrontations. Reports indicate that police opened fire with live ammunition, while youths set fires across the streets, targeting bus stations, government and private vehicles, petrol stations, passenger buses, and police stations.
Vandalism spread rapidly. ATMs were destroyed, shops selling mobile phones and clothing were ransacked, and streets descended into chaos. The police fought back with overwhelming force. Bullets flew, fires raged, and blood ran through the streets of Dar es Salaam. Countless youths were struck down, left lifeless on the ground.
Tanzania, long considered a bastion of peace in East Africa, was plunged into turmoil. A nation renowned for stability now grapples with the chilling aftermath of election-related violence.
What triggered the 29 October unrest
For decades, Tanzanians have been demanding a new constitution that reflects contemporary realities and serves all citizens. The country held its first multiparty general election in 1995. The main opposition party at the time, NCCR–Mageuzi, under its presidential candidate Augustine Mrema, claimed that Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) stole its victory. Benjamin William Mkapa was declared the winner and became Tanzania’s third President.
Similar claims of election rigging and unfair procedures resurfaced in subsequent elections in 2000. The same complaints were raised again in the elections of 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020.
In 2014, the then President, Jakaya Kikwete, initiated a process to draft a new constitution. A Constitution Review Commission was formed, public opinions were collected, and a Constituent Assembly was convened. It was chaired by the late former Speaker of the National Assembly, Samuel Sitta, with Samia Suluhu Hassan serving as Vice Chair. But the process stalled, and the new constitution was never finalized. As a result, public dissatisfaction grew.
Ahead of this year’s general election, the main opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), led by its chairman Tundu Lissu, announced that it would not participate in the polls unless major reforms were made to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The opposition argued that it was meaningless to contest an election in which the INEC Chairperson and Director were appointed by the sitting President. They claimed this structure made it inevitable that the commission would favour the incumbent.
The opposition demanded a genuinely independent electoral body. In response, Chadema Chairman Tundu Lissu was arrested and charged with treason. He remains in custody, with his case ongoing at the High Court in Dar es Salaam. The offence is non-bailable, and if convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
Other factors contributing to the unrest were the abductions, torture, and in some cases killings of government critics. Several individuals, including diplomat and former Tanzanian Ambassador to Malawi and Cuba, Humphrey Polepole, have reportedly been abducted. Mzee Ally Kibao, a Chadema cadre, was allegedly seized from a bus by armed men believed to be police officers. His body was found the next day on the outskirts of the city, showing clear signs of torture.
As the election approached, the government intensified its monitoring of critics, including religious institutions. In June, authorities revoked the registration of the church Kanisa la Ufufuo na Uzima, popularly known as “Gwajima’s Church,” led by Bishop Josephat Gwajima, a former Kawe MP under CCM but now a critic of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration.
Before the church’s closure, Bishop Gwajima had spoken out against the abductions and killings, urging the government to investigate and take action. Following this, the church was closed and Bishop Gwajima went into hiding, where he remains.
What happened on 29 October
In the months leading up to the general election, the police repeatedly issued statements warning the public against demonstrations or any form of unrest. They intensified their presence, at times marching through streets and displaying their gear to deter potential protests.
However, tensions escalated dramatically on 29 October. Beginning around 11 a.m., groups of youth began storming polling centres in several cities, particularly Dar es Salaam and Arusha. They seized ballot boxes, set polling stations ablaze, and scattered cast ballots across the streets. Some groups torched police posts, and blocked roads with stones and burning tyres.
The situation worsened with the deployment of the Field Force Unit (FFU), a special anti-riot police squad. Officers initially used tear gas and rubber bullets but soon switched to live ammunition as clashes spread throughout the cities.
Within hours, the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) was deployed. By then, several fatalities had already been reported on both sides, among demonstrators and police officers.
At around 16.00, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) declared a citywide curfew in Dar es Salaam, effective from 18.00. The announcement came while many residents were still far from home amid road blockages and ongoing gunfire. It is believed that numerous people were killed later that evening as they attempted to navigate their way home.
What happened in hospitals
Officials from several hospitals in Dar es Salaam said that health facilities were overwhelmed by the number of bodies and injured people arriving.
“We were receiving bodies every few hours. They were everywhere in the morgue. Many had to be left on the floor because there was not enough space,” said one mortuary attendant who requested anonymity.
A doctor at a public hospital in Ilala Municipality explained that his facility was stretched beyond capacity. Police vehicles were continuously delivering the injured and the dead, to the point that the hospital ran out of blood supplies and essential emergency equipment.
“My staff were exhausted. We stayed in the hospital for three days straight without going home it was extremely difficult. Those who were not on duty when the crisis began could not make it to work. So those of us who were already here had to save lives,” he said.
The Nation healing process
Not until 14 November did President Samia Suluhu Hassan acknowledge that innocent lives were lost. She made the remarks while addressing the National Assembly in Dodoma.
In her speech, President Samia called on Tanzanians to embrace reconciliation, unity, and dialogue as the nation seeks to recover from the unrest.
To uncover the root causes of the violence, the government established a commission of inquiry, under retired Chief Justice Mohammed Chande Othman as the Chairperson.
The commission includes several senior figures with extensive experience in governance, security and law, such as retired Chief Justice Professor Ibrahimu Khamis, and former SADC Executive Secretary Dr. Stergomena Tax.
In a further step toward reconciliation, President Samia ordered a pardon for youths charged with treason for participating in protests during the election. She directed security and law-enforcement agencies, especially the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), to assess individual cases and release those who merely “followed the crowd.”
“Looking at the clips from the protests, you can clearly see that some youths joined simply out of excitement, without understanding the gravity of what they were doing. As a guardian and as a mother, I am directing the security and law-enforcement agencies to review the cases and release those who simply followed the crowd,” she said.
On 24 November, more than 70 people who had been charged with treason were released after the DPP withdrew criminal charges. Political analysts described the move as an important step in national healing, considering the severity and implausibility of the charges.
Last week, the Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Juma Homera, said a total of 1,736 out of the 2,045 suspects arrested and charged with conspiracy and treason in connection with the post-election unrest will be released.
Homera said that, as of the end of November, 607 people had already been released.
Reactions from the new Prime Minister
Newly appointed Prime Minister Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba also urged Tanzanians to embrace peace and unity. He stressed that the country’s development cannot progress without stability.
He claimed the violence was instigated by individuals living outside Tanzania and urged young people not to destroy their nation for the sake of such external incitement.
“Some people live comfortably abroad while inciting chaos here. We end up killing each other and destroying our own infrastructure. We must stand together, resolve our challenges through dialogue, and move forward,” he said.
Nchemba also announced that President Samia had cancelled this year’s December 9 Independence Day celebrations, redirecting the funds to restore infrastructure damaged during and after the unrest. Assessments show that Dar es Salaam alone requires about 4.8 million US dollars to repair Bus Rapid Transit systems.
He also ordered the reopening of Bishop Gwajima’s church ‘Kanisa la Ufufuo na Uzima’, stating that it was improper to close a house of worship and deny people their right to worship because of the actions of a single individual.
During a meeting with editors, the Prime Minister was unable to state how many people had been killed in the unrest, saying it was “not appropriate” to disclose the numbers.
Threats of large-scale protests on 9 December, Independence Day, came to nothing, probably due to the massive presence of the security forces on the streets of the main cities. The government thus forbade its own citizens from celebrating the country’s independence.
Young Tanzanians are demanding accountability, an end to abductions, freedom of speech, and the release of bodies of those killed during the 29 October chaos. So far, authorities have not released an official death toll.
“We want to know how many people died on October 29. We also want the bodies of our fallen friends so we can give them a proper burial,” one youth, Joseph Joel Ntigwa, said.
These demands have grown louder as the government pushes back against a CNN special report that showed bodies scattered across city streets and alleged mass graves in Dar es Salaam. Government spokesperson Msigwa dismissed the report, saying it lacked balance.
“The CNN report is one-sided”, he claimed. “Government doors are always open, but CNN and other foreign media did not reach out for comment. This is unfair and unprofessional”.
Samia Suluhu Hassan has now been sworn into office for a further five year term. She claimed an absurd 98 per cent of the vote. Since many of the polling stations were deserted during the morning, it can be stated confidently that the official figures are fictional. (SS)
