Mass treason charges in Tanzania as African Union criticises election
Tanzanian authorities are charging more than 200 people with the serious offence of treason following protests over the late October election. And the African Union has said the poll did not meet its standards for a democratic process.
Dar es Salaam (AFP/AP) – Tanzania charged more than 200 people with treason, a lawyer and judicial sources told AFP, with the opposition saying Saturday yet another of their leaders had been arrested.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 29 poll with 98 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission, but the opposition, which was barred from participating, has branded the election a "sham".
The African Union said its observers had concluded that the election "did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections."
African Union reports ballot stuffing
AU observers reported ballot stuffing at several polling stations, and cases where voters were issued multiple ballots. The environment surrounding the election was "not conducive to peaceful conduct and acceptance of electoral outcomes," the statement said.
Violent protests broke out across the east African country on election day, with sources indicating hundreds -- if not thousands -- may have been killed.
At the same time, a days-long internet shutdown hampered the release of verified information.
On Friday, hundreds of people appeared in court on Friday in the economic hub Dar es Salaam.
"All of these ladies and gentlemen, numbering more than 250 in total, were arraigned in three separate cases... and they're all charged with two sets of offences," lawyer Peter Kibatala told AFP on Friday.
"The first set of offence is a conspiracy to commit treason. And the second set of offences is treason itself," he said.
Judicial sources in the court told AFP they knew of at least 240 people charged.
Opposition says 800 killed
Opposition party Chadema says at least 800 people were killed in the election violence. Diplomatic and security have sources backed that estimate, adding there are credible reports the numbers could reach thousands.
The authorities have so far declined to release any toll for dead or injured.
Chadema said that Deputy Secretary General Amani Golugwa had been arrested by police in Arusha.
"The arrest of the Deputy Secretary General means that only three of the party's six top leaders remain free," the party said in a statement on X.
Leader Tundu Lissu has been in detention since April facing treason charges, with the party's vice-chairman John Heche detained in October, and later charged with "terrorism acts".
"We understand that the government intends to charge our leaders with treason in an attempt to cripple the Party's leadership and paralyse its operations," Chadema added.
It follows a police warning late Friday that they were looking for opposition party leaders -- including secretary general John Mnyika, his deputy Amani Golugwa, and spokesperson Brenda Rupia -- in connection with the violence.
"We call on them to surrender to the police immediately," Tanzania police spokesperson David Misime said in a statement.
Wanted suspects include Josephat Gwajima, an influential preacher who had his church deregistered earlier this year after he criticized the government over rights abuses.
Warrants for opposition leaders
Police also issued arrest warrants for some of the top opposition officials who hadn't yet been jailed. They include Brenda Rupia, communications director for the Chadema opposition group, as well as John Mnyika, its secretary-general.
Authorities face questions over the death toll after security forces tried to quell riots and opposition protests before and after the vote.
Chadema has claimed that more than 1,000 people were killed and that security forces were trying to hide the scale of the deaths by secretly disposing of the bodies. The Catholic Church in Tanzania has said that hundreds were likely killed.
But some believe that the death toll could actually be much higher. The Kenya Human Rights Commission, a watchdog group in the neighbouring country, asserted in a statement that 3,000 people have been killed by Tanzania's security forces, with thousands still missing.
"Amidst the ongoing attempted cover-up, facilitated by the continued internet blackout and bandwidth restrictions, this number could be thousands below the actual death toll," the statement said.
Pictorial evidence in the rights group's possession shows many victims "bore head and chest gunshot wounds, leaving no doubt these were targeted killings, not crowd-control actions," it said.
Hassan, who automatically took office as vice president in 2021 after the death of her predecessor, took more than 97% of the vote, according to an official tally. She faced 16 candidates from smaller parties after Lissu and Luhaga Mpina, of the ACT-Wazalendo party, were barred from running.
Enforced disappearances
Rights groups described a climate of repression before voting. There were enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings, according to Amnesty International and others. Tanzania’s government denies the allegations.
Single-party rule has been the norm in Tanzania since the advent of multiparty politics in 1992.
But government critics point out that previous leaders tolerated opposition while maintaining a firm grip on power, whereas Hassan is accused of leading with an authoritarian style that defies youth-led democracy movements elsewhere in the region.
A version of the governing Chama cha Mapinduzi party, which maintains ties with the Communist Party of China, has ruled Tanzania since its independence from Britain in 1961, a streak that Hassan extended with her victory.