Tanzania’s opposition leaders have recently been the target of government crackdowns against political dissent. A planned march in late September 2024 to protest against the abduction and murder of an opposition figure was stopped by the police, and its organisers were detained.
This renewed crackdown on opposition leaders dashes the promise of a more even political field conjured by the initially conciliatory tone taken by President Samia Suluhu.
Among those recently held by the police was Freeman Mbowe, the chairman of the country’s main opposition party, Chadema (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo). Mbowe has been the target of arrest and harassment by current and previous Tanzanian regimes.
