Tanzania : Four top opposition Chadema figure Released

Dar es Salaam – Four top opposition Chadema figures stepped out of Segerea remand prison on Monday evening after the Kisutu court granted them cash bail, injecting fresh drama into Tanzania’s bitter dispute over the 29 October general election.

Deputy national chairman John Heche, deputy secretary-general Amani Golugwa, central-committee veteran Godbless Lema and Coast regional boss Boniface Jacob had spent 13 days behind bars on charges of “unlawful assembly and inciting public violence.” Prosecutors link the quartet to nationwide protests that erupted when the electoral commission disqualified Chadema’s signature candidate, Tundu Lissu, from challenging President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Human-rights groups say at least 12 people were shot dead by security forces during the ensuing clashes; the government puts the figure at three.

Speaking outside the court, Jacob flashed a two-finger salute and declared: “Intimidation will not silence the people’s will. We go back to work tomorrow.”

The releases came hours after the African Union (AU) released a scathing 5 November observer report, concluding that the poll “fell short of AU principles and international democratic benchmarks.” The mission cited “ballot stuffing, abduction of polling agents and disproportionate use of live ammunition,” and urged an independent audit of results showing Hassan re-elected with 84 %.

In an unusually blunt statement the Southern African Development Community (SADC) echoed the findings, listing “violence, media censorship and widespread intimidation.” The United Nations called for “a transparent investigation into fatalities and injuries” and urged authorities to restore full internet access, still throttled in parts of the country since election eve.

Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe welcomed the bail decision but warned it is “a tiny Band-Aid on a deep wound.” The party maintains the entire election was “a choreographed farce” and is demanding a fresh vote under a neutral caretaker administration—calls the government brands “treasonous.”

With Lissu still barred from travel and at least 87 opposition supporters reportedly in pre-trial detention, diplomats fear further unrest ahead of the 1 December inauguration.