Keypoints:
- Tanzania launches probe into election killings
- President signals leniency for young protesters
- Rights groups allege widespread repression
TANZANIAN President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced a formal investigation into the deadly suppression of protests that erupted after the October 29 election, marking her most conciliatory shift since the unrest. Her remarks, delivered at the opening of the new parliament on Friday, follow weeks of mounting criticism over alleged abuses by security forces.
Inquiry launched into violent aftermath
Hassan was declared the winner with 98 percent of the vote by the electoral commission, after her main opponents were jailed or disqualified. Opposition parties and human rights groups accused the government of orchestrating a heavily rigged vote, sparking mass protests that played out under a nationwide internet shutdown.
‘I am deeply saddened by the incident. I offer my condolences to all the families who lost their loved ones,’ she told lawmakers. Hassan said the government had established an inquiry commission ‘to investigate what happened’. No official casualty figures have been released, though opposition groups say hundreds were killed.
Leniency signalled for youths charged with treason
Hundreds of people detained during the protests have been charged with treason, an offence that carries the death penalty. Hassan indicated that the state may soften its stance, particularly towards younger detainees who, she said, may not have fully understood the consequences of participating in demonstrations.
‘As the mother of this nation, I direct the law enforcement agencies and especially the office of the director of police to look at the level of offences committed by our youths,’ she said. ‘For those who seem to have followed the crowd and did not intend to commit a crime, let them erase their mistakes.’
The comments suggest the president may be seeking a political reset after one of the most turbulent periods in recent Tanzanian history.
Critics say repression escalated in 2024
Hassan assumed office in 2021 following the sudden death of former president John Magufuli. She was initially praised for loosening political controls and allowing opposition activities to resume. Yet rights organisations say those reforms unravelled sharply in 2024.
Opposition parties and advocacy groups accuse security agencies of orchestrating kidnappings, enforced disappearances and targeted killings of critics in the weeks leading up to the election. Among the most prominent was Humphrey Polepole, a former government spokesman and ambassador, who vanished from his blood-stained home on October 6 after publicly criticising the administration.
Hassan’s government has denied any involvement in such incidents.
International pressure mounts
Western governments and the United Nations have expressed alarm over the post-election violence. Two members of the United States Senate foreign relations committee described the polls as ‘marred by state-sponsored political repression, targeted abductions and manipulation’. They said the security response had resulted in ‘the death of hundreds and the abduction and imprisonment of many more’, urging Washington to reassess its engagement with Tanzania.
In Dar es Salaam, the Legal and Human Rights Centre reported that its staff were harassed on Thursday while working at the White Sands Hotel, claiming officers seized laptops and phones. ‘The entire hotel was under siege, and our team was the sole target,’ the organisation wrote on X.
Testing moment for national reconciliation
Hassan’s pledge to investigate the violence and revisit treason charges marks her first major overture to protesters and critics since the election. Whether the moves will satisfy domestic expectations or international demands for accountability remains uncertain. The coming weeks will reveal whether the inquiry offers meaningful transparency — and whether the government is prepared to address allegations of abuses by security forces.
