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Freeman Mbowe, a key opposition leader in Tanzania, was detained by police on Friday, his Chadema party announced, following a crackdown on an opposition rally where tear gas was used, just days before the upcoming local elections.
Chadema, the opposition party, voiced its dissatisfaction earlier this week, accusing authorities of unfairly disqualifying a significant number of its candidates from running in the upcoming local elections on November 27 in various towns and villages across the country.
The upcoming elections are being closely watched as a key indicator of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s leadership, following her ascension to power in 2021 with promises of political reforms and greater civic freedoms. However, international observers have grown increasingly concerned, citing her shift toward her predecessor’s repressive policies, which has raised doubts about her commitment to change.
In a statement on X, Chadema’s Director of Communication and Foreign Affairs, John Mrema, alleged that police had set an ambush for the party’s convoy while it was en route through Halungu Forest, located in the southwestern part of the country.
Mrema described how Mbowe and other Chadema leaders were stopped at a police roadblock, where the officers opened the car doors forcefully, beat those inside, and arrested them without any provocation.
“The police have taken away our leaders without disclosing their destination, and we still do not know where they are being held or for what reasons,” he added, urging their release.
Mrema also said that prior to his arrest, Mbowe had been blocked by police from speaking at a rally in the southern town of Mlowo.
Officers then moved in and “dispersed the gathered crowd using tear gas”, according to the party.
Police confirmed the arrests, saying they were violating schedules for campaign rallies.
“Chadema leaders violated the schedule and we are holding them for grilling and investigations because some officers were injured by the opposition supporters when they were dispersing the crowd,” regional police chief Augustino Senga said.
The arrests come only days after Mbowe protested over the apparent disqualification of scores of Chadema candidates hoping to run in the local polls.
The party had planned to field candidates for 65 percent of the 80,430 posts up for grabs, but Mbowe said on Tuesday it would now only be present in about 33 percent thanks to what he labelled “deliberate manipulation”.
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The local polls are expected to be an indicator of the political landscape ahead of a presidential election due next October.
Hassan took office after the sudden death of her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli in 2021 and has yet to be tested at the ballot box.
She was initially feted for easing restrictions that Magufuli had imposed on the opposition and the media in the country of around 67 million people.
But rights groups and Western governments have criticised what they see as renewed repression ahead of the elections, with arrests of Chadema politicians as well as abductions and murders of opposition figures.
Only last month, Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu — as well as other opposition figures — were briefly detained after riot police prevented a mass rally in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
While Chadema boycotted the last local polls in 2019 under Magufuli, citing irregularities in the nomination process, Mbowe said it would contest next week’s elections.
“This time, we are not withdrawing at all. We will proceed steadily until the end,” Mbowe told reporters.
“In the last five years, we have had no leadership at the grassroots. We cannot afford to stay out again.”
