Tanzania detains opposition figures in an effort to stop protests

Police in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s economic capital, arrested three opposition leaders again on Monday to stop anti-government protests. Both the leaders of the opposition and the police said this.

A leader of the main opposition party, CHADEMA, named Freeman Mbowe was arrested on the street, and his deputy, Tundu Lissu, was taken from his home because he was planning to protest the claimed killings and kidnappings of government critics.

Later on Monday, CHADEMA said that police had arrested another high-level official, as well as a number of party members, workers, and guards at two of their offices in Dar es Salaam.

Lawyers for Mwananchi Communications Ltd and East Africa TV say that police also arrested three reporters who were covering the riots. Mwananchi said that one of its reporters was later freed. No reason was given for putting them in jail. The police were not available to respond right away.

Rights activists say that President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government is going after people who are against them before local elections in December and a national election in 2025.

Police said 14 people were held for going against a ban on the protests, including Mbowe and Lissu.

Hassan’s government didn’t say anything right away, but it has said in the past that it supports freedom and won’t stand for violence.

He told the social media site X that Mbowe was taken in the city’s Magomeni area when he went there to lead a peaceful protest. It also said that a group of 11 cars picked up Lissu and drove off without saying where they were going.

Also, the two were briefly arrested last month, along with hundreds of fans.

In 2016, someone tried to kill Lissu and shot him 16 times. He survived.

Another top CHADEMA member was taken from a bus earlier this month. His body was later found with signs that he had been beaten and acid had been poured on his face.