Tanzania charges hundreds with treason after disputed election protests

# Tanzania charges hundreds with treason after disputed election protests

*Event date: 2025-11-08*

Tanzanian authorities have charged hundreds of people with treason over protests linked to disputed elections, deepening a political crisis that has already raised alarms about violence, internet restrictions and the handling of the aftermath.

According to AP's reporting, the charges extend beyond Dar es Salaam to other parts of the country, where multiple charge sheets became public Saturday. Arrest warrants were also issued for some of the opposition figures who had not yet been jailed, including Chadema communications director Brenda Rupia and the party's secretary-general, John Mnyika. Another wanted figure is Josephat Gwajima, an influential preacher whose church had already been deregistered after he criticized the government.

The government response comes in the shadow of a contested election in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan won more than 97% of the vote, according to the official tally. Her win came after major opposition figures were barred from running or were already in custody. Chadema leader Tundu Lissu remains jailed and faces treason charges, while opposition groups and rights monitors say the environment around the vote was marked by repression, disappearances and killings.

The death toll itself is a source of major dispute. Chadema says more than 1,000 people were killed. The Catholic Church has said hundreds were likely dead. The Kenya Human Rights Commission went further, saying 3,000 people may have been killed and warning that the number could still be below the actual total because of an internet blackout and bandwidth restrictions. The Tanzanian government denies the allegations, but the scale of the disagreement shows how little transparency remains around the violence.

The African Union has also weighed in, saying its observers concluded that the election did not comply with AU principles and that ballot stuffing and multiple ballots were reported in some stations. That criticism adds international weight to domestic claims that the poll was neither free nor fair.

For Tanzania, the treason charges are likely to increase fear rather than resolve the political dispute. They also show a government more focused on punishment than reconciliation. With opposition leaders jailed, arrest warrants still active and casualty figures contested, the country appears headed into a period of even tighter control and deeper mistrust.