Tanzania’s President Claims Controversial Win Amid Protests

By Staff, Agencies

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has won a landslide election victory, official results showed Saturday, after key candidates were jailed or barred from a vote that has triggered days of violent protests.

The final result showed Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote, dominating every constituency, the electoral commission announced on state television.

A quick swearing-in ceremony would take place on Saturday, state TV said.

The main opposition party, Chadema, says hundreds of people have been killed by security forces since protests broke out on election day on Wednesday.

After John Magufuli’s sudden death in 2021, Hassan rose from vice president to president, facing resistance from the army and Magufuli’s allies. Analysts say she aimed to secure power through a strong election win, while rights groups accused her of a pre-vote “wave of terror” marked by abductions.

Chadema was barred from taking part in the election and its leader put on trial for treason.

Despite tight security, election day erupted in chaos, with crowds tearing down her posters, clashing with police, and prompting an internet blackout and curfew.

A Chadema spokesman told AFP on Friday that “around 700” people had been killed, based on figures gathered from a network checking hospitals and health clinics.

A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told AFP that deaths were “in the hundreds”.

Hassan has not made any public statement since the unrest began.

Her government denies using “excessive force” but has blocked the internet and imposed a tight lockdown and curfew nationwide, making it hard to get any information.

News websites have not been updated since early Wednesday and journalists are not allowed to operate freely in the country.

UN chief Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Tanzania, “including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations”, his spokesman said in a statement.

Much public anger has been directed at Hassan’s son, Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir, accused of overseeing the crackdown.

There have been unconfirmed reports of the army siding with protesters in some places, but army chief Jacob Mkunda came out strongly on Hassan’s side on Thursday, calling the protesters “criminals”.

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said Friday that his government had “no figures” on any dead.

“Currently, no excessive force has been used,” he said in an interview. “There’s no number until now of any protesters killed.”