Tanzania's Descent into Repression: Post-Election Violence Raises Alarm Over Democratic Backsliding
By Staff Writer
The New York Times, The Guardian
November 18, 2025
Click here for the New York Times article
Click here for The Guardian article
Tanzania's October 29 presidential election descended into deadly violence that has profoundly shaken the nation and tarnished its long-promoted reputation for peace and stability. Security forces opened fire on protesters demonstrating against the exclusion of opposition parties from the ballot, killing many and arresting at least 240 people charged with treason.
The United Nations reported receiving reports that hundreds were killed, while an umbrella group of African human rights organizations suggested as many as 3,000 people may have been killed based on observations at hospitals and morgues overwhelmed with bodies. Opposition sources have accused state forces of digging mass graves outside Dar es Salaam and Arusha to conceal the scale of the killings, though the government denies deaths despite photographic evidence.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared winner with 97.6 percent of the vote, but African Union observers said the poll failed to meet democratic standards. The main opposition party Chadema was barred from the ballot, and its leader Tundu Lissu has been charged with treason. US Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen called for reassessment of relations with Tanzania, stating the ruling party "has created an environment of fear that challenges the security of the country and neighboring countries."
When Hassan assumed the presidency in 2021 after President Magufuli died suddenly, her early months offered hope as she allowed banned media to reopen and promised reconciliation. But that promise crumbled as she sought re-election, with Tanzania sliding into authoritarianism. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation's 2024 African Governance Report notes that governance scores across Africa have declined for the first time in a decade, with nearly 30 countries experiencing coups, armed insurgencies, or democratic backsliding since 2020.
Key Quotes:
"Tanzania's ruling party has created an environment of fear that challenges the security of the country and neighboring countries." - US Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen
"We need those who killed a lot of people to be brought to justice." - John Heche, Chadema deputy leader
"There are times when young people follow criminal acts out of excitement or peer pressure." - President Samia Suluhu Hassan
Given the events in Tanzania, what do former or current UNICEF staff think:
ReplyDelete1. Development aid should increase, because now is the time to stand by the side of Tanzanian children..
2. Development aid should be suspended or ending, as argued here (click).
3. No changes to current development aid. However, some project funds should be allocated to UNICEF headquarters in Nairobi to commission a multidisciplinary research team to prepare a PowerPoint presentation demonstrating that bullets and batons negatively affect the morbidity and mortality of young people.
It is sad that the study suggested in number 3 was not undertaken many decades ago. It could have formed the basis for another UNICEF framework that could have prevented children from suffering the worst consequences of warfare.
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