Tanzanian police have arrested leading figures of the opposition Chadema party, including former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, and detained several hundred young supporters, a Chadema official said on Monday.
The Chadema leaders were arrested in the southwestern city of Mbeya, where the party planned to hold a rally to mark International Youth Day on Monday, John Mrema, Chadema’s communications and foreign policy director, told AFP on Sunday.
He said that about 500 young supporters were also arrested by police on their way to the rally in Mbeya and escorted home.
Tanzanian police announced on Sunday that they would ban the Chadema youth gathering and accused the party of planning violent demonstrations.
The youth organisation had announced that around 10,000 young people would come together in Mbeya to celebrate International Youth Day under the motto “Take responsibility for your future”.
Chadema leader Freeman Mbowe said he “strongly condemned” the arrest of his deputy Lissu, secretary general John Mnyika, zone chairman Joseph Mbilinyi and youth council leaders.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all our leaders, members and supporters arrested in different parts of the country,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“The party is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to inform the public step by step about every development.”
Chadema officials denounced the police ban on Sunday and called on President Samia Suluhu Hassan to intervene.
Since taking the helm in 2021 following the sudden death of President John Magufuli, Hassan has turned away from her predecessor’s authoritarian policies and initiated political reforms, including easing some restrictions on the media and the opposition.
In January 2023, she lifted a ban on opposition rallies imposed by Magufuli in 2016, reaching out to her political rivals who seek to restore democratic traditions.
Lissu returned to Tanzania shortly after Hassan lifted the travel ban, ending five years spent largely in exile following an assassination attempt in 2017.
In March 2022, Mbowe was released, about seven months after he and other Chadema leaders were arrested, just hours before the party was scheduled to hold a public forum to call for constitutional reforms.
Announcing the ban on Sunday, Awadh Haji, Tanzania’s police chief for operations and training, said police had “clear indications that their aim was not to celebrate International Youth Day but to instigate and perpetrate violence.”
Lissu had vowed on Sunday that the youth event would take place as planned.
“President Samia, do not bring in Magufuli’s strange methods. International Youth Day is celebrated worldwide. Why are your police blocking Chadema youth on the streets and arresting them?” he said on X.
“This is not the time to be silent, to be afraid, or to just talk. This is the time to stand up and make your voice heard. Let us raise our voices with all our strength!”
Presidential and parliamentary elections will take place in Tanzania at the end of next year.
