Last October Tanzanians protested against the re-election of President Samia Suluhu Hassan. The protests quickly turned deadly. The UN Human Rights Office linked the unrest, in which a reported 700 people died, to Tanzania’s previous election, in 2020, in which hundreds also died amid a crackdown on dissent, and raised concern about the government’s intolerance of any opposition.
Tanzania is still recovering from last year’s violence, which shattered the country’s reputation as an African example of peace and security.
During her inauguration in November, Samia acknowledged the deaths but said the elections were fair.
When she became president in 2021, many expected her to be an improvement on her predecessor, John Magufuli, nicknamed “The Bulldozer”. Now opposition leaders and analysts say she has become even more repressive.
“Samia has pushed Tanzania into a thick winter of protests, instability and uncertainty,” Kenyan policy analyst Prof Peter Kagwanja told the BBC.
The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Party of the Revolution) is one of Africa’s oldest political organisations, but its unity is showing cracks, analysts say, much like the ANC in South Africa. The Africa Report says factional rifts have widened between Magufuli-era hardliners and Samia allies.
The two main opposition leaders were barred from the presidential election. Tundu Lissu of Chadema, the largest opposition party, was arrested in April on treason charges and remains in jail. Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo was disqualified twice by the electoral commission despite a court reversal of the initial ban.
Samia, 65, won nearly 98% of the vote in a turnout of 87%, according to Tanzania’s electoral commission. Ter Manyang Gatwech, a prominent human rights advocate, tells the FM that a result of 98% is neither credible nor acceptable. “The conduct of the president and state authorities also reflected intimidation, suppression and abuse of power.”
He says this raises questions about the integrity of the electoral process and the space for genuine political contestation. “Democracy cannot thrive where fear, repression and manipulation replace the will of the people.”
On election day, the authorities barred internet access, deployed the military and limited independent observers. Samia’s victory was swiftly denounced by regional election observers. “In most areas, voters could not express their democratic will,” says Richard Msowoya, head of the electoral observer mission for the Southern Africa Development Community.
Democracy cannot thrive where fear, repression and manipulation replace the will of the people
— Ter Manyang Gatwech
A similar disputed election ensured Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 81, a seventh term, with the possibility of his son and military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, succeeding him.
Kainerugaba, best known for furious social media rants, helped his father win the election last month by ordering a crackdown on opponents and shutting down the internet, Reuters reported.
Museveni is widely seen as favouring Kainerugaba as a successor, though the president has denied actively preparing him for the role. In an interview with Sky News, Museveni dismissed suggestions that he might step aside. “If I am available, not dead, not senile, but still around and have some knowledge — if you are serious about your country — why would you not want to take advantage of me?” he said.
Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986. In 2017, parliament scrapped the constitutional age limit for presidential candidates, clearing the way for Museveni to keep his grip on power indefinitely.
Uganda’s election continues to draw sharp criticism from regional observers, with Gatwech sounding the alarm over the integrity of the vote. He says the systemic disruption of the electoral process has rendered the official results moot.
“This action restricted access to information, disrupted communication and delayed voting for many citizens,” says Gatwech, noting that the digital and logistical blackout fundamentally undermined the democratic exercise. “Under such conditions, it is impossible to claim that Museveni won a genuinely democratic election.”
Beyond the immediate irregularities, Gatwech says the East African nation is falling behind its continental peers in terms of institutional maturity. He points to a growing divide between nations embracing transparency and those clinging to autocracy.
“Uganda must learn from countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, which continue to strengthen democratic institutions, electoral transparency and respect for political pluralism,” he says, framing the issue as a missed opportunity for regional leadership.
“The citizens of Uganda and Tanzania deserve elections that respect human rights, gender equality, political freedom and the rule of law.” Gatwech says without these pillars, economic and social stability in the region will remain precarious.
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