The Tanzanian opposition party reports that the location of its leader is currently unknown

Tanzania’s main opposition party announced on Friday that it was unable to determine the location of its leader Tundu Lissu after he was transferred from the jail where he was detained following his arrest on treason charges the previous week.

Senior officials from the CHADEMA party, along with Lissu’s legal representatives and family members, reported that they made several unsuccessful attempts on Friday to visit him at a jail in Dar es Salaam, where he has been detained since April 9.

“CHADEMA requests that the Prisons Service and relevant government agencies provide information regarding Lissu’s current location,” the party stated in a release.

The Prisons Service refuted claims that Lissu had been transferred from jail.

“This information is misleading and untrue.” “We wish to inform the public that Tundu Lissu is safe and remains in detention at Keko Prison in Dar es Salaam, in accordance with the country’s laws and procedures,” stated Elizabeth Mbezi, spokesperson for the Tanzania Prisons Service.

Lissu, who finished second in the nation’s 2020 presidential election, faced treason charges last week due to a speech that prosecutors claimed incited the public to initiate a rebellion and interfere with the election. He was prohibited from entering a plea regarding the treason charge.

The allegations directed at him will cast new light on President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s human rights record as she seeks re-election later this year.

Last weekend, the election commission announced that CHADEMA would be disqualified from the upcoming elections in October due to its refusal to sign a code of conduct while advocating for electoral reforms.

Hassan received acclaim following her rise to power in 2021 for alleviating the oppression of political rivals and reducing media censorship that had flourished during the tenure of her predecessor, John Magufuli, who passed away while in office.

However, she has encountered increasing backlash from human rights advocates regarding a number of arrests, as well as mysterious abductions and murders of political rivals.

Hassan stated that the government is dedicated to upholding human rights and has initiated an investigation into the reported abductions from last year.