Tanzanian authorities charged hundreds of people with treason over demonstrations around disputed polls last month, in a major escalation of political tension as the country reels from violence in which an unknown number of people were killed.

In addition to dozens criminally charged a day earlier in Dar es Salaam, dozens more face similar treason charges elsewhere in the East African country, according to numerous charge sheets that became publicly available Saturday (November 8, 2025).

Police also issued arrest warrants for some of the top opposition officials who had not yet been jailed. They include Brenda Rupia, communications director for the Chadema opposition group, as well as John Mnyika, its secretary-general.

Chadema is Tanzania’s leading opposition party. Its leader, Tundu Lissu, has been jailed for several months and also faces treason charges after he urged electoral reforms ahead of voting on October 29.

Authorities face questions over the death toll after security forces tried to quell riots and opposition protests before and after the vote. Chadema has claimed that more than 1,000 people were killed and that security forces were trying to hide the scale of the deaths by secretly disposing of the bodies. The Catholic Church in Tanzania has said that hundreds were likely killed.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who automatically took office as Vice-President in 2021 after the death of her predecessor, took more than 97% of the vote, according to an official tally. She faced 16 candidates from smaller parties after Lissu and Luhaga Mpina, of the ACT-Wazalendo party, were barred from running.

Rights groups described a climate of repression ahead of voting. There were enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings, according to Amnesty International and others. Tanzania’s government denies the allegations.

The African Union said this week that its observers had concluded the election “did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections.”

AU observers reported ballot stuffing at several polling stations and cases where voters were issued multiple ballots. The environment surrounding the election was “not conducive to peaceful conduct and acceptance of electoral outcomes,” the statement said.

Single-party rule has been the norm in Tanzania since the advent of multi-party politics in 1992.

But government critics point out that previous leaders tolerated opposition while maintaining a firm grip on power, whereas Hassan is accused of leading with an authoritarian style that defies youth-led democracy movements elsewhere in the region.

A version of the governing Chama cha Mapinduzi party, which maintains ties with the Communist Party of China, has ruled Tanzania since its independence from Britain in 1961, a streak that Hassan extended with her victory.

Around 700 people have been killed in three days of election protests in Tanzania, the main Opposition party said on Friday (October 31, 2025), with protesters still on the streets in the midst of an internet blackout.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to cement her position and silence critics in her party with an emphatic win in Wednesday’s election, in which her main challengers were either jailed or barred from standing.

But the vote descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets of Dar es Salaam and other cities, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.

With foreign journalists largely banned from covering the election and a communications blackout entering its third day, information from the ground has been scarce.

The main Opposition party, Chadema, said clashes continued between protesters and security forces in the commercial hub on Friday.

“As we speak the figure for deaths in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall figure is around 700,” Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told AFP.

“The death toll could be much higher,” he warned, saying killings could be happening during the nighttime curfew.

A security source told AFP they were hearing reports of more than 500 dead, “maybe 700-800 in the whole country”.

“We are talking hundreds of deaths,” a diplomatic source told AFP.

The United Nations said “credible reports” indicated 10 dead, in the first information released by an international body, while Amnesty International said it had information of at least 100 killed.

Multiple hospitals and health clinics were too afraid to talk directly to AFP.

Ms. Hassan had yet to comment on the unrest and local news sites had not been updated since Wednesday.

The only official statement came from army chief Jacob Mkunda late on Thursday (October 30, 2025) who called the protesters “criminals”.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets for a second day of demonstrations in Tanzania on Thursday (October 30, 2025) after a disputed election, while Amnesty International reported that two people have died.

After the protests broke out on Wednesday (October 29, 2025), the government shut down the internet, imposed a curfew and deployed the military to the streets.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi or CCM party, which has been in power since independence in 1961, sought to extend its rule in Wednesday’s election, with presidential candidates from the two main opposition parties barred from running.

The incumbent, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, faced 16 other candidates from smaller parties who barely campaigned.

The electoral body on Thursday announced through state television that President Hassan had taken an early lead, garnering 96.99% of the votes in 8 out of 272 constituencies tallied on early Thursday.