Samia Suluhu chooses silence amid conflicting reports on deadly violence

Whereas information coming from Tanzania is scant and conflicting, reports that hundreds could have been killed in the ongoing skirmishes are shocking. Media reports indicate many protesters were killed by police in key towns across Tanzania after overnight protests, as speculation continued over the whereabouts of President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

Media outlets around the world reported that at least 700 protesters could have been killed by Friday morning. Tension continues to mount across the East African country.

The Times of India carried a banner reading ‘Blood on ballots: 700 killed in Tanzania election protest’. It carried an AFP story quoting CHADEMA party officials.

“As we speak, the number of deaths in Dar es Salaam is around 350 and there are 200 more in Mwanza,” CHADEMA spokesperson John Kitoka told AFP. “If we add figures from other places around the country, we arrive at a total of around 700 deaths.”

Al Jazeera said the opposition’s estimated toll contrasted with that of the United Nations, which in a Friday briefing in Geneva told reporters that “credible sources” had indicated at least 10 deaths at the hands of security forces so far. Other sources on Wednesday had reported between 30 and 60 deaths.

President Samia, or Mama Samia as she is known in Tanzania, is said to have relocated to Zanzibar but has remained silent despite the deadly protests. Presidents William Ruto, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and others in the East African Community (EAC) are also tight-lipped.

Images of the army escorting protesters as they chanted anti-CCM slogans in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday afternoon have gone viral.

Vote counting continued despite the unrest, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) expected to announce Samia’s overwhelming victory within 72 hours, given that she did not have any credible opponent.

The country now waits to see when and how Samia will be sworn into office amid growing opposition from citizens demanding the cancellation of the just-ended polls.

Two opposition leaders, Tundu Lissu of CHADEMA and Luhaga Mpina of ACT–Wazalendo, were denied participation in the elections, while those cleared were reportedly state-sponsored candidates to create a semblance of competition.

The exclusion of her biggest challengers has infuriated citizens and rights groups, who have also decried an intensifying crackdown on opposition members, activists and journalists.

Samia has not been seen or heard from since Wednesday morning when she voted at Chamwino on the outskirts of Dodoma as deadly riots rocked the country she has ruled since taking over from the late President John Magufuli in 2021.

Palpable tension continued in the country after a night of chaos and battles between swarms of angry youth and the police. The youth are not relenting. Protesters were still threatening to march to State House last evening. They had spent the day mobilising supporters under hashtags #TwendeIkulu and #SamiaMustGo. Meanwhile, a police station was burned in Mbeya.

“Things are bad. There is shooting all over. People are staying indoors, with many facing starvation,” a source told The Standard yesterday.

Another concerned citizen sent a WhatsApp message that read: “Please pray for us. I haven’t been in touch with my family since election day. The situation is very bad in Tanzania.”

The situation at towns along the Kenya–Tanzania border also remained tense as transport between the two countries stayed paralysed. Trucks transporting cargo remained grounded at the Namanga customs yard.

According to EU leaders, the months leading up to the polls were marked by harassment and detention of opposition figures, exclusion of opposition parties from the ballot, media censorship and widespread restrictions on civic space.

“These elections cannot be regarded as free and fair. The fraud did not begin at the ballot box; it has been unfolding for months,” said an EU statement.

The Southern African Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, in their analysis carried by The Africa Report, listed instances of enforced disappearances and killings, police brutality and torture. They also cited unlawful arrests and detentions, restrictions on media and online freedoms, suppression of political opposition and the targeting of religious leaders.

Advocate Onesmo Olengurumwa, coordinator of the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition, also told the publication that SADC, the East African Community and the AU — the only observer groups present in Tanzania — are made up of member countries also accused of human rights violations.

Sources from Dar es Salaam told The Standard that observers, among them Nyeri County Woman Representative Rahab Mukami and her Nairobi counterpart Esther Passaris, who are on the AU delegation, were holed up in their hotel rooms.

On Wednesday, the African Union election observer mission posted on social media platform X, saying: “Voters are turning out, and the atmosphere is calm and orderly as the nation begins this important democratic exercise.”

According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), no credible observer mission is present in Tanzania because Belgium, Sweden, Germany and the Republic of Ireland have all withdrawn from the exercise.

“No election can be credible when the main opposition is silenced, when freedom of assembly and expression are denied, and when independent media are intimidated and censored,” said KHRC officer Ernest Konel.

The EU delegation also does not have a proper observation team, maintaining only a diplomatic tradition of “diplo-watchers”, while the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is not participating this time.

They added that reports of irregularities, obstruction of observers, and targeted violence against dissenting voices further undermined the integrity of Tanzania’s electoral process. They urged democratic partners to remain steadfast in defending democracy and human rights in the country.

The EU Delegation for Relations with the Pan-African Parliament said the elections could not be deemed free or fair.

“As Tanzanians went to the polls, the international community watched with deep concern. What should have been a celebration of democracy instead unfolded in an atmosphere of repression, intimidation and fear,” read the statement.

Tension remained high along the Kenya–Tanzania border, especially in Namanga, where heavily armed police and military officers patrolled the Tanzanian side yesterday.

Contrary to reports on Wednesday that two people — John Kahindi, a local Kenyan businessman, and Tanzanian Kabuli Balayi — were killed by Tanzanian police fire, it emerged on Friday, that they were seriously injured and rushed to Kajiado, where their condition remains critical.