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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the immediate and unconditional release of scores of detained members of Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, including its vice-chairperson and former presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu, chairperson Freeman Mbowe and Youth Council leader John Pambalu.
Chadema said the three leaders were arrested when they complained to authorities about the arrests of hundreds of their youth wing leaders ahead of celebrations of International Youth Day on Monday, 12 August.
The mass arrests surprised many commentators as they came after President Samia Hassan, in 2023, lifted a ban on opposition gatherings and promised to restore competitive politics. Hassan has been steadily freeing Tanzania’s restrictive political environment created by her authoritarian predecessor, John Magufuli.
However, it appears that the Tanzanian government feared the Youth Day events could spiral into mass demonstrations against the government like those which rocked neighbouring Kenya recently. On Sunday, the police banned Chadema’s rally, saying it was intended to cause violence.
“They cited the party’s rallying call for people to come together like the ‘youth in Kenya’ — apparently referring to the weeks of deadly anti-government demonstrations in the neighbouring east African country,” reported the BBC.
Chadema officials told reporters on Monday they did not know where Lissu, Mbowe and Pambalu were being held. However, Zitto Kabwe, of another major opposition party, ACT-Wazalendo, told Daily Maverick, “Hopefully they will be released today.”
Chadema said the party had planned to hold the Youth Day celebrations in the Mbeya region but the government banned the event on 10 August and the police then began arresting scores of Chadema Youth Council members at the party’s offices in Temeke District. They also arrested Youth Council members travelling to Mbeya.
The party said that by Monday, 469 Youth Council members and leaders had been arrested across the country. Lissu, as well as the party’s secretary-general, John Mnyika, along with several regional and youth leaders were arrested in Mbeya city.
Chadema’s national chairperson, Freeman Mbowe, and its national Youth Council chairperson, John Pambalu, had flown to Mbeya to meet with police leaders to discuss the arrests but were arrested at the Mbeya airport. Police also arrested five journalists.
The party said the leaders were beaten and injured during their arrests and denied human rights, including food, medicine and warm clothing despite the cold.
“Chadema strongly condemns these police actions that violate human rights and breach the Constitution and various local and international laws, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all arrested leaders and members. The party urges its members to be ready to take action as directed if the police do not release our leaders promptly.”
Read more: Samia Suluhu Hassan’s hesitant Tanzania reforms and slow progress may be self-preservation strategy
SA urged to act
The DA’s international relations spokesperson, Emma Powell, called on International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola “to publicly condemn these arbitrary political arrests, and to use every available avenue at the upcoming SADC Summit to advance the restoration of democratic freedoms in Tanzania and the wider region”.
The SADC — the Southern African Development Community — is controversially holding its annual summit this week in Zimbabwe. On Monday, Pretoria dismissed the DA’s demand that the summit should be moved from Zimbabwe because of its clampdown on its political opposition.
Read more: Pretoria rebuffs DA’s call for SADC summit to be moved from Zimbabwe
Powell said the Tanzanian arrests had taken place despite Hassan lifting a ban on opposition party gatherings in January 2023.
She noted that Tanzania was a founding member of the SADC, whose founding treaty mandates all member states to act in accordance with the principles of “human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.
“This blatant suppression of democratic freedoms, occurring in the same week that heads of state and government will convene at the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit, underscores the political impunity that persists unabated in many parts of the region.
“South Africa can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to the flagrant suppression of human rights and democratic freedoms in our backyard.
“Section 11.9 of the Government of National Unity’s Statement of Intent states clearly that South Africa’s foreign policy will now be based on ‘human rights, constitutionalism, the national interest, solidarity, peaceful resolution of conflicts, to achieve the African Agenda 2063, South-South, North-South and African cooperation, multilateralism and a just, peaceful and equitable world’.”
Daily Maverick asked Lamola’s office for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Rights must be respected
Amnesty International called on the Tanzanian authorities to urgently halt “the mass arrests and arbitrary detention of government critics”, saying that intimidation of members of the political opposition was intensifying in the run-up to local government elections in December and the general election in 2025.
“The mass arrests and arbitrary detention of figures from the Chadema party, as well as their supporters and journalists, is a deeply worrying sign in the run-up to local government elections in December 2024 and the 2025 general election.
“The Tanzanian authorities must urgently respect people’s rights to freedom of expression and association,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for east and southern Africa.
She said that according to a party official, the leading figures were taken by the police to unknown locations, while other party members and journalists were transported to police stations in Mbeya.
“Chadema lawyers told Amnesty International that they had not been allowed by the Mbeya regional police commander to know the whereabouts of the arrested individuals or information regarding the charges against them.
“The authorities have been restricting activities of the political opposition while allowing politicians from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party to meet unhindered.”
Jackson called on Tanzania to urgently release all detainees or charge them with a “recognisable criminal offence, in line with international standards” and give them fair trials.
“Ahead of the upcoming elections, Amnesty International calls on the Tanzanian authorities to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all people, including the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
“They must end arbitrary arrests and detention of political opposition members and reverse the escalating crackdown on civic space.” DM
