Tanzanian police have released several senior opposition leaders detained after deadly post-election protests, a move that offers only a partial de-escalation of the country’s political crisis.
The main opposition party, Chadema, announced that four of its senior officials were released on bail on Monday. Among those freed were the party’s vice chairman, John Heche, and deputy secretary-general, Amani Golugwa. Godbless Lema, a member of Chadema’s central committee, and Boniface Jacob, a regional chairman, were also released.
Heche was arrested on October 22 and questioned on suspicion of terrorism-related offences, his lawyer said. There was no immediate comment from the government on the releases.
The unrest erupted after President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of the October 29 presidential election with nearly 98% of the vote, a result disputed by the opposition.
Despite the releases, the situation remains volatile. Chadema’s leader, Tundu Lissu, who was barred from the presidential ballot, remains behind bars on treason charges.
Furthermore, prosecutors have charged at least 145 people with treason for their suspected involvement in the protests. More than 170 others face protest-related charges.
The human cost of the crisis is a point of fierce contention. Opposition forces and human rights activists allege that security forces killed more than 1,000 people during the unrest. The government has dismissed these figures as exaggerated but has not provided its own estimate.
The violence has drawn sharp condemnation from civil society. Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi of Dar-es-Salaam called the killings a “disgrace before God” and said the country had “lost its dignity.”
Observers from the African Union said the election was not in line with democratic standards, citing incidents of ballot stuffing and other irregularities. President Hassan has defended the vote’s fairness and rejected criticism of her government’s human rights record.
While she ordered an investigation into reported abductions of critics last year, no findings have been made public. The release of officials is a tentative step, but the continued detention of Lissu and mass treason charges signal a government still facing a deep political crisis.
