Tanzania - Free Tundu Lissu

TANZANIA - Updates on the Tundu Lissu case

December 8, 2025:

December 8, 2025 - Tanzania. Updates on the Tundu Lissu case in Tanzania.

Tanzania, an important East African country with over 70 million inhabitants

As is well known, Tundu Lissu is the leader of the main opposition party in Tanzania. He was arrested on 9 April on charges of “treason” and has been held on death row ever since.

On 9 December, social media has called for a mass demonstration in the streets of Tanzania to protest against the government's authoritarian regression. The government has already made it known that it considers the demonstration an act of hostility orchestrated by foreign countries, which will be suppressed by all necessary means.

The threat must be taken seriously, given that after the 29 October general election, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country to contest the election results (an utterly implausible 98% in favour of the Party of the Revolution), and those demonstrations were harshly repressed, with the death toll, according to the most reliable estimates, possibly reaching 1,000. In addition, at least 1,700 protesters were reportedly arrested and could be charged with serious crimes such as high treason, which carries the death penalty.

All this in a country that until recently was considered one of the most stable and peaceful in Africa, with a single party in government that originally started out with revolutionary post-colonialist Marxist leanings, but which have been greatly tempered over time, partly as a result of large amounts of Western economic aid. Currently, however, the two main investment projects in Tanzania are a Chinese one, worth $1.4 billion, and a Russian one, worth $1.2 billion, interested in uranium mines.

Meanwhile, Tundu Lissu has managed to get a six-page message out of the prison where he is being held. The message is incomplete, interrupted by Lissu's sudden transfer to another prison, but in the form in which Lissu managed to get it to his comrades in the Chadema Party, it summarises the events of recent months:

1) Tanzania is falling back into a total dictatorship under the presidency of Samia*, stronger than that of Magufuli.

2) CHADEMA** has been repressed: its leaders have been arrested, its funding cut off and elections banned until 2030.

3) The 2025 elections led to massacres: peaceful protesters were killed, kidnapped and murdered under an internet blackout.

4) No legitimate government: the African Union, SADC and others argue that the elections did not meet basic democratic standards.

5) A democratic uprising has begun: Tanzanians, especially young people, have “crossed the Rubicon” and will not return to silence.

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As Hands off Cain had already written, Samia initially inspired optimism when she came to power after the sudden death of her authoritarian predecessor, John Magufuli. In the early weeks, she was praised for easing political repression, but since then, political space has shrunk. ‘Samia has pushed Tanzania into a harsh winter of protests, instability and uncertainty,’ Kenyan political analyst Prof. Peter Kagwanja told the BBC. The protests, organised by young people, showed clear parallels with the global mobilisations led by Generation Z against entrenched leadership and unresponsive governments. At the start of her second term, analysts say Samia will face increasing international scrutiny that could undermine her legitimacy as leader of the East African country. In this context, it will be important to continue to follow the trial of Tundu Lissu, which is stalled on preliminary issues.

On the Lissu case, and a summary of the entire legal affair, see also HoC 19/06/2025, 28/06/2025, 15/07/2025, 30/07/2025, 03/09/2025, 04/09/2025, 28/10/2025 and 02/11/2025.

13/11/2025

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* Samia Suluhu Hassan was Vice President of Tanzania from 2015 to 2021, when she succeeded President John Pombe Magufuli, who died of heart complications following Covid-19 treatment with “traditional methods” based on herbs and infusions. Samia (as she is commonly known) is said to have won the 29 October election with 98% of the vote. She has therefore been confirmed as President of Tanzania for the next five years.

** Chadema is the main opposition party. In the 2020 elections, it obtained 13% of the votes, a result considered by all to be “surprising” given the strong control (euphemism) exercised by the government over the election results.

*** The full text of Lissu's message from prison can be found at: https://www.jamiiforums.com/threads/kutoka-ukonga-tundu-lissu-vurugu-za-kisiasa-vitisho-na-udanganyifu-wa-matokeo-ya-uchaguzi-vimekuwa-silaha-za-ccm-kuendelea-kushikilia-madaraka.2405579/

More generally, the solidarity and advocacy campaign for Lissu is summarised on the website https://freetundulissu.com/