Pressure Mounts On Samia As Hundreds Reported Dead in Tanzania’s Election Protests

Tanzania, 31 October 2025 - Hundreds of people are feared dead in Tanzania following violent clashes between security forces and protesters over the country’s disputed general election.

The opposition Chadema party told the AFP News agency that “around 700 people” may have been killed since demonstrations erupted after Wednesday’s vote. The BBC, citing diplomatic sources in Dar es Salaam, reported credible evidence that at least 500 people had died in three days of unrest.

The nationwide internet blackout has made independent verification of the death toll difficult.

The protests have spread across major cities including Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza, and Dodoma, as demonstrators accuse President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government of manipulating the election to maintain the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party’s decades-long rule.

Police have been accused of using live ammunition and tear gas to disperse crowds, while curfews and a state of emergency have been declared in several regions.

Opposition leaders say the elections were neither free nor fair, noting that main opposition figure Tundu Lissu of the Chadema party was barred from contesting after being arrested in April on treason charges. Another leading challenger, Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo, was disqualified on technical grounds — leaving Hassan facing largely CCM-aligned candidates.

In a statement issued Friday, South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemned what it called “the violent suppression and undemocratic conduct witnessed during the recent elections in Tanzania.”

The party accused President Hassan’s government of “intimidation, exclusion of opposition parties, and the use of state violence to crush public protest.”

The EFF said the nationwide lockdown and internet shutdown were designed to conceal atrocities, warning that over 30 people were already feared dead and hundreds injured or detained when the statement was issued. It urged the Tanzanian government to “lift curfews, restore full internet access, and release all detained political activists and opposition leaders.”

EFF leader Julius Malema called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to intervene decisively, hold Tanzania accountable for electoral manipulation, and support the people’s demand for genuine multiparty democracy.

The European Parliament has also condemned the polls, declaring, “Lissu must be released immediately and unconditionally. No election can be credible when the main opposition is silenced.”