In a statement issued on Sunday, November 30, 2025, the party’s Director of Communication and Publicity, Brenda Rupia, said that several Chadema leaders had recently been denied entry to the prison despite following all required procedures.
Dar es Salaam. Chadema has accused prison authorities of blocking its senior leaders from visiting the party’s national chairman, Tundu Lissu, who is being held on remand at Ukonga Prison in Dar es Salaam.
But when contacted for comment, Tanzania Prisons Service spokesperson Elizabeth Mbezi said she had no information regarding any directive restricting Chadema officials from visiting Lissu.
She also said she was unaware of reports that party leaders had attempted to visit the chairman and been turned away.
“I have no information about any restriction, and I have no information about leaders going to see him and being blocked,” she said.
Lissu has spent nearly eight months in remand custody facing treason charges following his arrest in April 2025 during a party tour in the Ruvuma Region.
In a statement issued on Sunday, November 30, 2025, the party’s Director of Communication and Publicity, Brenda Rupia, said that several Chadema leaders had recently been denied entry to the prison despite following all required procedures.
“In recent days, party leaders including Central Committee Member Godbless Lema and Secretary-General John Mnyika have been blocked from entering Ukonga Prison to visit Chairman Lissu,” the statement said.
According to the party, when Mnyika arrived at the prison on Sunday, officers told him that there were orders prohibiting any Chadema leader from meeting Lissu.
“This action signifies an unusual restriction that violates the fundamental rights of a remand prisoner to be visited and seen by relatives and associates,” the statement reads in part.
Chadema said the alleged blockade constitutes a violation of the basic rights of prisoners and remandees, describing it as an abuse of state institutions aimed at harassing opposition figures. It has demanded that the Prisons Service clarify why its leaders are being denied access to Lissu.
The party further called on local and international stakeholders to monitor what it termed a dangerous development for democracy and for Lissu’s personal well-being.
“Chadema informs its members and citizens that it will take legal, political, and diplomatic steps to ensure Lissu’s rights, and those of party leaders, are not violated,” the statement noted.
