Tanzania in turmoil: opposition claims 700 dead as election results loom

Roads remained barricaded with bonfires, protests have swelled into the hundreds, and security personnel have reportedly fired live rounds indiscriminately.

Tensions escalated even as the country braces for the official announcement of election results expected on Saturday. And as security personnel faced off with protesters, there were numerous casualties.

The actual number was difficult to verify as the police formally downplayed the protests and the consequent curfew as a security protection decision, rather than a clampdown.  Yet opposition groups gave a scary number of 700 dead.

Mr John Kitoka, a spokesman for Tanzania’s opposition party Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), told Reuters that they had documented 700 deaths since Wednesday “based on accounts from health workers”.

He said that the number of deaths in Dar es Salaam is around 350 while in Mwanza, there are more than 200.

Some news agencies speaking to anonymous security sources had said the number could be around 500.  On the other hand, the United Nations Human Rights Office  (OHCHR), through its spokesperson Seif Magango, told reporters that there were credible reports of at least 10 people killed in Dar es Salaam, Shinyanga and Morogoro.

“We call on the security forces to refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal weapons, against protesters, and to make every effort to de-escalate tensions,” Mr Magango said.

The Voices of Community Activists and Leaders of Africa (Vocal Africa) said in Nairobi on Friday that it is documenting the atrocities in Tanzania with the aim of escalating matters to the International Criminal Court.

“We have people in Tanzania who are documenting and following up on everything. We are making sure we have evidence that can be used not just in Tanzania but also at the international level so that those responsible can be held to account,” said Mr Hussein Khalid, the Vocal Africa CEO.

“At this point in time, because of the internet blackout and the media blockage, this information is shared but in a manner that will not put those who are sharing it at risk. And we are getting it from within Tanzania; mainly in Dar es Salaam and Arusha. This is where we have the most number of cases coming in,” he added. “Once we have a full connection with our counterparts in Tanzania, we will be able to verify and also give you statistics.”

Tanzania is a member of the ICC but it is among countries that had criticised the court’s focus on African situations in the past.

Amid all this, there is an expectation that the results for the presidential election might be announced on the third day after the controversial polls.

The independent national electoral commission (INEC) had announced results from “about 80 regions of the country’s total 100 regions,” according to the national broadcaster TBC.

Official results are expected on Saturday, the report added.  President Samia Suluhu was expected to win under the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. The party had governed the country since independence in 1961 when it was known as Tanzania African National Union (TANU., before later merging with Afro-Shirazi party in Zanzibar to form CCM in 1977.

Observers had said the announcement of a result poses a catch-22 situation: The President needed an elected mandate (having inherited power from the late President John Pombe Magufuli), to properly govern. But a disputed election for which courts cannot rule on could extent protests which are not useful for stability.

Tanzanian law does not allow electoral results to be challenged in courts of law. That means INEC decision will be final. Could she compromise, or will she purge the dissent? She will decide.

In Zanzibar, the electoral commission on Friday declared Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi the winner of the presidential election in the semi-autonomous archipelago. Dr Hussein was a CCM candidate and his win secured him a second term.

Zanzibar and Tanganyika merged to form the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964. The Tanzania president has power over Zanzibar, but Zanzibar is self-governed in that it has its own government that governs its internal affairs.

The Tanzanian government has not commented on the number of people killed or wounded by the police. However, in its first comments directly addressing the unrest, it downplayed the uprising, seeking to portray it as a storm in a teacup.

In a message from the foreign affairs ministry to diplomatic missions, the government said: “Owing to isolated incidents of breaching law and order, the government has heightened security and taken several other precautionary measures.”

“The security measures in place are temporary but necessary and normalcy will return shortly,” it added.

Those measures include curfews, internet shutdowns and orders to work from home.

The US embassy in Tanzania issued two advisories on Thursday regarding the tense situation in the country, with its latest one saying there were “reports of country-wide demonstrations resulting in outbreaks of violence and roadblocks”.

Its first advisory on Thursday said there was a widespread internet blackout, and the second noted that there was an “intermittent internet access”.

Lack of internet access has seen many businesses in the country  grind to a halt. None of the country’s top media houses has updated its website since Wednesday. Airports are barely functional and the country’s port, which is a crucial artery supplying Central Africa, has been crippled.

The last time such strife came close to its borders was in 2000-2001 when Zanzibar erupted following disputed polls. The crisis, which left at least 35 people dead, began when supporters of the Civic United Front (CUF) party took to the streets in weeks of rage following disputed results.

Violent demonstrations broke out, fuelled by longstanding political tensions between CCM and the CUF. The 2000-2001 unrest was rooted in historical injustices dating back to 1995, when Tanzania held its first multiparty elections. Those elections were marred by allegations of vote-rigging in favour of CCM. Complaints included irregularities in voter registration, delays in delivering voting materials, and interference by police and army personnel in vote counting. 

Mr Salmin Amour, the CCM incumbent, was declared president of Zanzibar by a margin of less than one percent. In protest, CUF members boycotted the CCM-dominated Zanzibar government for three years and refused to take part in a repeat election after results in several constituencies were annulled. CUF presidential candidate and party secretary-general Seif Shariff Hamad refused to recognise Amour as the legitimate president.

In the Zanzibar melee, more than 35 people were reportedly killed in the violence, according to Human Rights Watch. Around 30 opposition members in Pemba were held for several months without bail or trial before being released and having their charges dropped.

The OHCHR  statement issued by  Mr Magango in Nairobi and Ravina Shamdasani in from Geneva, asked Tanzanian authorities to adhere to international regulations.

“We urge the authorities to fully uphold Tanzania’s obligations under international human rights law. They must promptly reinstate access to the internet and facilitate citizens’ full enjoyment of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Curtailment of communication will only further undermine public trust in the electoral process,” said the office.

“The violent post-election scenes come in the aftermath of electoral campaigns marred by allegations of arbitrary arrests and detentions of opposition figures, including the opposition Chadema party leader and his deputy, and reported enforced disappearances of people expressing dissenting views, including the country’s former ambassador to Cuba.

“All those in arbitrary detention must be immediately and unconditionally released and those held legally must be accorded full due process and fair trial rights.

“We urge the authorities to ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all cases of election-related violence, and to ensure those responsible are brought to justice,” the UN demanded.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.

[email protected]
Additional reporting by Luke Anami and Reuters