Former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu and a minimum of 500 youth supporters amongst these detained.
Police in Tanzania have detained opposition leaders and rounded up a number of hundred supporters as they halted a deliberate rally.
Leaders of the opposition Chadema celebration, together with former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, have been arrested on Monday within the southwestern metropolis of Mbeya, a celebration official introduced on X. The police had beforehand banned the rally, claiming that violence was deliberate.
The Tanzanian police motion comes amid a wave of protests that has swept different components of sub-Saharan Africa in latest weeks, together with close by Kenya and Uganda.
Chadema’s director of communications and international affairs, John Mrema, stated that the arrests have been made because the celebration was attributable to maintain a rally to mark Worldwide Youth Day. About 500 youth supporters have been additionally detained whereas making their technique to the occasion.
Breaking information!
Polisi Mbeya wamewakamata Viongozi wote waliokuwa ofisi za Chadema Kanda ya Nyassa,akiwemo Mhe.Tundu Lissu,Mhe.John Mnyika,Mhe.Joseph Mbilinyi na Viongozi wa Baraza la Vijana na wale wa Chama .— Jon Mrema (@JonMrema) August 11, 2024
“Breaking information! The Mbeya Police have arrested all of the leaders who have been within the places of work of Chadema in Nyassa area, together with the Hon. Tundu Lissu, the Hon. John Mnyika, the Hon. Joseph Mbilinyi and the leaders of the Youth Council and people of the celebration,” he wrote.
Chadema chief Freeman Mbowe stated he “strongly” condemned the arrests of his deputy Lissu and different youth leaders, and known as for his or her “instant and unconditional launch”.
Stalled progress
Tanzania is because of maintain presidential and parliamentary polls in 2025, and critics say that the arrests of opposition figures are additional proof supporting their claims that democratic progress is stalling.
In latest months, the opposition has been staging protests calling on the federal government to withdraw controversial payments, handle hovering dwelling prices, and guarantee unbiased oversight of the electoral course of.
The police had introduced on Sunday a ban on the Chadema youth gathering, accusing the celebration of planning violent demonstrations.
The youth wing had stated about 10,000 children have been anticipated to satisfy in Mbeya.
Chadema officers had denounced the ban, and known as on President Samia Suluhu Hassan to intervene.
Since taking the helm in 2021, after the sudden demise of President John Magufuli, Hassan has moved away from her predecessor’s hardline insurance policies and launched into political reforms.
In January 2023, she lifted a ban on opposition rallies imposed in 2016 by Magufuli, in an overture to political rivals in search of the restoration of democratic traditions.
Lissu returned to Tanzania quickly after Hassan lifted the ban, ending 5 years spent largely in exile following a 2017 assassination bid.
Mbowe was free of jail in March 2022, about seven months after he and different Chadema leaders had been arrested forward of a deliberate public discussion board to demand constitutional reform.
