Around 700 people were killed during demonstrations on the sidelines of presidential and legislative elections which took place unopposed on Wednesday in Tanzania, according to the opposition party Chadema. A figure denied by the government.
This East African country, which has 68 million inhabitants, has since lived under a blanket of lead, the internet having been cut off by the authorities.
A unique candidate
Head of State Samia Suluhu Hassan, 65, promoted to head of Tanzania following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli in 2021, ran for president and easily won. Thus the Chadema party was excluded from the elections and called for a boycott of the vote. Its leader Tundu Lissu, arrested in April, is on trial for treason, a charge punishable by death.
Hailed initially for having relaxed the restrictions introduced by her predecessor, she was then accused of carrying out severe repression against her critics, particularly ahead of the election.
The counting of votes is still ongoing, with updates regularly announced on national television which does not mention the unrest but shows, unsurprisingly, a tidal wave of the ruling party the CCM (Chama cha Mapinduzi, the “party of the Revolution” in Swahili).
The protest spread across the country
An AFP journalist heard heavy gunfire in the country’s economic capital and largest city, Dar es Salaam, on Wednesday as hundreds of people protested, notably burning down a police station. The protest then spread across the country.
“As we speak, the death toll in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350 and there are more than 200 in Mwanza (north). If we add the figures from other places in the country, we arrive at a total of around 700 deaths,” said opposition Chadema party spokesperson John Kitoka.
A report described as “rather credible” by a diplomatic source, which reports “hundreds of deaths”. A security source interviewed by AFP had received similar information.
No “excessive use of force”, says the government
“There was no excessive use of force,” replied Tanzanian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo on the Al-Jazeera channel, reporting “pockets of violence” in the country.
“I did not see these 700 dead,” he continued. “We do not yet have any figures for any victims in the country,” said the head of Tanzanian diplomacy.
Fear of repression
Several hospitals and health centers refused to speak to AFP in a context of maximum fear from the authorities, who have not communicated any results. The Internet also remains largely blocked, which further complicates the work of collecting this data.
“When the situation calms down, the internet will come back,” assured Hamisi Mbeto, a spokesperson for the ruling party in Zanzibar, during a press conference. “If you allow access to the internet, people spread rumors and chaos. »
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on security forces in Tanzania not to use “disproportionate” force against protesters. Despite a confinement decreed in Dar es Salaam, hundreds of people walked in the streets of the city on Friday, John Kitoka and the security source told AFP.
Opposition demands new vote in Zanzibar
On the island of Zanzibar, a tourist hotspot, the CCM was declared the winner of local elections on Thursday evening. But the opposition party ACT-Wazalendo, which came second, rejected the results, considering itself “stolen”, and demanded a new vote.
One of its senior officials told AFP that ballot boxes had been stuffed, people were allowed to vote multiple times without identification and ACT-Wazalendo election observers were kicked out of counting stations.
“There has never been a credible election since 1995,” lamented, in reference to the first multi-party elections in Tanzania, a 70-year-old man at an opposition rally in Zanzibar. ACT-Wazalendo was allowed to participate in elections on the island, but its presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina was disqualified on the Tanzanian mainland.