Tanzania protesters face heavy security, fear repeat of deadly election violence

Riot police with weapons drawn have been visible across Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital, following calls for protests on 7 July, a date usually marking a celebration of the Tanganyika African National Union, the party that led Tanzania to independence in 1964.

One officer in an armoured vehicle told the French news agency AFP that the police presence was merely "routine exercises", but the government has recently banned all political gatherings and spent weeks branding protesters as criminals, in an apparent attempt to deter demonstrations.

"Any previous use of force to preserve peace was just a taste of what is to come," Dar es Salaam's regional commissioner, Albert Chalamila, said last week, referring to the police violence during October's election, when protests broke out over the banning of opposition candidates and a spate of abductions and murders targeting dissidents.

Spotlight on Africa: Tanzania's elections

Rights groups and the opposition say security forces killed thousands. The government says 518 people died, without saying who was responsible for the killings.

The government's promises of a transparent report on the October violence have not materialised, said Dorothy Semu, leader of the ACT-Wazalendo party.

"We expected to learn the whole truth and a proper plan on how to get justice and accountability, but nothing has been done," she said.

With the government showing no remorse or accountability, protesters are worried about what could happen on Tuesday, and are sceptical about coming out for further protests.

John Heche, deputy leader of the Chadema opposition party, told AFP his team is under constant surveillance. Cars with plainclothes security personnel follow their officials day and night, he said.

Spotlight on Africa: Silencing dissent in Tanzania

Chadema's leader Tundu Lissu has been imprisoned on treason charges, facing a potential death penalty, since April 2025.

Other critics and opposition leaders have been abducted and beaten. Some, including a former ambassador who criticised President Samia Suluhu Hassan, have disappeared.

(with AFP)