Tanzania’s electoral commission announced on Saturday that President Samia Suluhu Hassan secured a massive victory in this week’s presidential election. This outcome has ignited days of fierce protests, throwing the nation into its most serious political turmoil in decades.
However, international election observers immediately raised concerns about the election’s fairness. Leading members of the European Parliament openly declared the elections ‘neither free nor fair,’ citing numerous reports of voting irregularities, obstructed observers, and an overall environment of suppression and fear during the polls.
The commission stated that Ms. Hassan, a 65-year-old politician from Zanzibar, garnered almost 98 percent of all votes cast on Wednesday. They also reported an exceptionally high voter turnout of nearly 87 percent of the country’s 37.6 million registered voters, a stark contrast to the approximately 50 percent turnout seen in the 2020 election.
These widespread protests, which have reportedly resulted in numerous fatalities across various cities, were triggered by public outrage over the disqualification of the two primary opposition candidates. The unrest also stems from deep-seated economic grievances, particularly concerning youth unemployment. This situation bears a striking resemblance to recent demonstrations in Morocco and Madagascar, where similar public discontent led to the ousting of the sitting president.
The exact number of casualties from the protests remains disputed, with the Tanzanian government vehemently denying any use of excessive force against the demonstrators.
Political Protests Turn Deadly in Tanzania
A video report highlights that post-election violence persisted for a third day in Tanzania, with the United Nations confirming at least 10 fatalities as political protests turned deadly.
The UN human rights commission reported at least 10 deaths resulting from security forces opening fire on protesters. However, Brenda Rupia, spokesperson for the leading opposition party, Chadema, provided a much higher estimate, claiming around 200 people had been killed.
In a surprising move on Friday, Ms. Rupia urged the military to intervene and assume power. This extraordinary appeal from an opposition party clearly indicates Chadema’s profound loss of faith in the nation’s democratic institutions.
She clarified that the military’s role should be temporary, solely to oversee the election’s annulment, release political prisoners, draft a new constitution, and facilitate fresh elections.
“I implore the international community to press the military to intervene because lives are being lost,” Ms. Rupia stated in a phone interview, asserting, “The government is presenting fabricated results.”
Late on Thursday, General Jacob Mkunda, the chief of defense forces, issued a warning via state television, stating that the military would take “appropriate action” against the demonstrators, whom he labeled as criminals.
Since the election, Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city, has been under a 6 p.m. curfew. On Friday, the city experienced a significant security presence, with streets appearing mostly empty.
These protests represent a significant challenge for President Hassan and a critical test for her long-standing ruling party.
With a population of approximately 70 million, Tanzania has been continuously governed by Ms. Hassan’s party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Party of the Revolution), since 1977, under six consecutive presidents.
Given her party’s entrenched power and the electoral commission’s decision—whose members are presidential appointees—to disqualify the primary opposition leaders, Tundu Lissu of Chadema and Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo, the election initially seemed to pose little threat to Ms. Hassan.
Consequently, President Hassan faced only a fragmented field of minor parties on the ballot.
In response to these events, widespread unrest erupted in a nation that had long cherished its social cohesion, a legacy from its independence leader, Julius Nyerere, who retired in 1985. Although Chadema had advocated for an election boycott, Ms. Rupia admitted that the sheer scale of the demonstrations since Wednesday had taken the party by surprise.
Echoing the opposition party’s call, some protesters in Tanzania have also demanded military intervention, as reported by Richard Mbunda, a political science lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam.
A key distinction in Tanzania’s protests, compared to similar movements elsewhere, is the presence of a highly visible opposition leader. Mr. Lissu of Chadema, who miraculously survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot over a dozen times, was charged with treason in April for advocating electoral reforms. His high-profile trial commenced earlier this month.