AP
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Protests have been widespread in Tanzania as electoral authorities count votes in a disputed presidential election, but rights groups and opposition groups say a climate of fear in the months leading up to polling day has clouded the outcome.
Since Wednesday’s election, the military has been deployed alongside police to quell riots in major cities. Soldiers patrolling the streets, sporadic gunshots and closed businesses are rare sights in the normally peaceful country, where many foreigners come for its pristine beaches and safaris.
Part of the reason is that Tanzania’s first female leader, who has been president since 2021, sparked widespread outrage by running virtually unopposed after two of her main opponents were blocked or prevented from running.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is seeking another five years in office, faced 16 candidates from smaller parties. Critics say this is a coronation, not a contest. Hassan is currently the subject of various uncharitable satire posted on social media, ridiculed as a dictator and labeled as fearful of competition.
Chadema opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been charged with treason and imprisoned for several months after calling for electoral reform, saying it is a prerequisite for free and fair elections. Another opposition figure, Ruhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wasalendo group, was barred from standing.
At stake for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi Party (CCM) is a decades-long grip on power amid the rise of a charismatic opposition force seeking to usher the country into political change.
Armed Conflict Location, Event Data (ACLED), a nonprofit organization that tracks violence and protests around the world, describes the CCM as the “last hegemonic liberation party” seeking to cling to power by blocking opposition “through administrative, legal and extra-legal means.”
According to Amnesty International, this pattern includes enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings. In June, the United Nations Committee of Human Rights Experts cited more than 200 cases of enforced disappearances since 2019 and said it was “alarmed by reports of a pattern of repression” ahead of the election.
Internet access has been intermittent since Wednesday as the nation awaits official results.
The International Crisis Group said in its latest analysis that Tanzania’s president “oversaw an unprecedented crackdown on political opponents.” “The government has suppressed freedom of expression, from banning X and restricting Tanzanian digital platform JamiiForums to silencing critical voices through threats and arrests.”
Local police also appeared to be “carrying out so-called online patrols.”
The political maneuvering by the Tanzanian authorities is unprecedented even in a country where single-party rule has been the norm since the advent of multiparty politics in 1992.
Government critics say previous leaders have tolerated opposition while maintaining a tight grip on power, while Hassan has been accused of leading with an authoritarian style that has run counter to youth-led pro-democracy movements in other parts of the region.
In Uganda, opposition leader Bobi Wine (real name Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) is the leader of what began as a “people power” movement aimed at breaking with the same leader after nearly 40 years. President Yoweri Museveni won the lowest vote share ever in the 2021 election, cementing Wine, 43, as the formidable national leader.
In Kenya, young people are trying to hold President William Ruto accountable for allegations of official corruption and failure to make election promises. Demonstrations in the capital Nairobi last year and early this year were so large and persistent that Mr. Ruto sent in the military to restore order.
A year ago, street violence erupted in Mozambique after opposition leader Venancio Mondlane took his supporters to the streets of the capital, Maputo, after a contentious election.
In early October, protests by mainly young people in Madagascar helped overthrow the government of President Andriy Rajoelina. President Rajoelina fled the country after a group of military elites joined crowds protesting against water and power outages.
But Tanzania is different and an outlier in the region.
Mr. Hassan is seeking to extend his surprising influence as opposition leaders seek to break the CCM’s grip on the country, a type of ruling CCM party with ties to the Chinese Communist Party that has ruled Tanzania since independence from Britain in 1961.
The CCM is structured so that it is fused with the state, effectively in charge of the security apparatus, and that a new leader emerges every five or ten years. Hassan himself was able to take over as vice president because his predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, suddenly passed away after the start of his second term.
The orderly transition of power maintained Tanzania’s reputation as an oasis of political stability and relative peace, and this was a key reason why the CCM enjoyed significant support, especially among rural voters.
