Tanzanian Gov’t Arrests Top Opposition Leader After Rally
Tundu Lissu, a high-profile Tanzanian opposition politician, was arrested by police on Wednesday, according to his party, after attending a gathering in the country’s south.
The opposition Chadema party announced on X that its chairman, Lissu, “has been arrested along with other members” and put into custody following a protest in Mbinga, a town in the southern Ruvuma region.
Breaking: Hon. Tundu Lissu has been arrested a little while ago in Mbinga, Songea. Mr. Lissu was arrested after addressing a public rally. Officer Commanding District (OCD) led the operation. Until now, it is unknown under what grounds Mr. Lissu has been arrested.
— Tundu Antiphas Lissu (@TunduALissu) April 9, 2025
Admin. pic.twitter.com/cGnQScNJde
The party announced in a brief statement that it was monitoring the situation but did not specify which station they had been transferred to.
It went on to say that police were “dispersing citizens at the venue using tear gas”.
In a separate post on X, the party urged authorities to “release our leaders immediately and without conditions.”
Lissu was elected chair of his party in January, defeating Freeman Mbowe, its longtime leader.
He was jailed in November ahead of the municipal elections, which were decisively won by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Mh. Tundu Lissu kabla ya kukamatwa kwa mabavu. pic.twitter.com/eM4c3HsRn3
— Twaha Mwaipaya (@Twaha_Mwaipaya) April 9, 2025
Chadema claimed that the elections had been rigged, while Mbowe stated that “the results were not credible at all”.
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The party has announced that it will petition the High Court for reforms ahead of this year’s national election.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who took over from Vice President John Magufuli in 2021, was originally praised for loosening limitations imposed by his predecessor.
The late Magufuli imposed on the opposition and the media in his country of approximately 67 million people.
But rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression, with the arrests of Chadema politicians as well as abductions and murders of opposition figures.
Tanzanian Gov’t Arrests Top Opposition Leader After Rally
