(Alinanuswe Mwanguku/AFP)
Last month, on the day Pope Francis died, the most senior Catholic priest in Tanzania was fighting for his own life.
Father Charles Kitima, the secretary-general of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, was in the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam. He had been assaulted the night before. The attack occurred inside the national headquarters of the Catholic Church, where Father Kitima resides.
The attackers did not identify themselves but clearly intended to cause grievous harm; sources said the priest was struck forcefully in the head with a blunt object.
According to local publication The Chanzo, the attack happened hours after a recording of him went viral on social media, in which he criticised “lawlessness” ahead of the presidential election.
Father Kitima remains in hospital. Police have arrested one suspect and confirmed that investigations are ongoing.
The attack conforms to a troubling pattern. In recent months, there has been a spate of abductions, assaults, arrests and murders in Tanzania.
The victims seem to have one thing in common: they are all opponents or critics of the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is running for election in October.
This campaign of intimidation is so crude that, on Thursday, the European parliament passed a resolution urging “Tanzanian authorities to end the escalating crackdown … against opposition members, human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, LGBTQIA+ activists, journalists and civil society organisations, and to independently investigate police abuses and enforced disappearances”.
In a statement, Tanzania’s foreign ministry rejected the findings of the European parliament, saying it was based on “incomplete or partisan information” that “misrepresents the situation on the ground”.
Opposition in the cross-hairs
It is an especially dangerous time to be associated with Chadema, the largest opposition party, whose leader Tundu Lissu was arrested in April while speaking at a public rally in Songea.
From there, he was transported 13 hours by road to Dar es Salaam, and charged on two counts, including treason — which carries the death penalty — for allegedly inciting people to obstruct the upcoming election.
On the day that Lissu was charged, several of his supporters were arrested, beaten and injured as they tried to make their way to the Kisutu Resident magistrate’s court.
In another incident, a well-known party member in Mbeya, Mpaluka Nyagali, popularly known as Mdude, was abducted from his home in the middle of the night last week. He is still missing.
There have been reports of other party members who have been abducted or arrested, in some instances with reports of involvement from state security officials.
“The country is not safe,” said Boniface Mwabukusi, the president of the Tanganyika Law Society, in response to Mdude’s abduction. Mwabukusi alleged that it was police officers who assaulted Mdude before forcibly abducting him.
“This is yet another disturbing incident that adds to the growing concerns over public safety.”
Tanzania’s police inspector-general, Camillus Wambura, did not respond to a request for comment.
Another incident that shocked the nation involved the abduction and murder of Chadema secretariat member Ali Mohamed Kibao last September. He was forcibly removed from a public bus in Tegeta, Dar es Salaam, while travelling to Tanga. His body was discovered the next day in the capital’s Ununio area, bearing signs of torture and acid burns.
Growth at what cost?
Samia succeeded John Magufuli after his death in office in 2021. She was deputy president at the time. She immediately reversed her predecessor’s Covid denialism, earning an instant popularity boost. She has also overseen some of the most impressive economic growth in Africa (GDP growth was 5.7% in 2024, according to the African Development Bank, and is set to surpass that this year).
But several corruption scandals have contributed to a perception that this growth is not being evenly distributed, while democratic space has continued to shrink under her watch. In its annual Freedom in the World Index, Freedom House downgraded Tanzania to “not free” (from “partly free” in 2024).
Some within the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party — which has governed Tanzania since independence in 1961 — are concerned that these factors could contribute to a poor showing in October’s presidential election.
This may explain the crackdown against opposition party members, and the recent decision by the electoral commission to disqualify Chadema from that election. The commission said Chadema had not signed an electoral code of conduct.
Chadema has previously said that it will boycott the vote in the absence of meaningful electoral reforms.
The Institute for Security Studies, a South Africa-based think tank, wrote in an analysis that Tanzania’s troubles are symptomatic of a worrying regional trend.
“Democracy is in bad shape in East Africa and seems to be getting worse. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s political reforms after she succeeded the authoritarian John Magufuli in 2021 raised a glimmer of hope — but she now seems to have regressed.”
This article first appeared in The Continent, the pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with the Mail & Guardian. It’s designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. Download your free copy here
