One of Tanzania’s prominent opposition leaders and former presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu, has been granted bail shortly after his arrest by police for allegedly participating in an unauthorized gathering.
Lissu, who serves as the vice chairman of Tanzania’s largest opposition party, CHADEMA, was apprehended, along with other party leaders, at a hotel in the northern region of Arusha on Sunday. He was later released the same evening, as reported by Lissu’s party on the social media platform X.
Since his return from exile in January, Lissu has been conducting political rallies across the country, criticizing President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration for its human rights record and its handling of a contentious ports management agreement.
His return from exile followed Hassan’s decision to lift a six-year ban on political rallies. Lissu had been residing in Belgium since his departure in 2020 after losing the presidential election to John Magufuli.
In June 2016, Magufuli imposed restrictions on elected officials holding rallies outside their constituencies, arguing that the election season had concluded and that rallies were an impediment to development. This evolved into a blanket ban on political gatherings, with the police rejecting opposition requests to organize rallies. In some instances, even internal party meetings were disrupted, with leaders and their followers facing harassment and arrests.
Magufuli himself continued to hold rallies and toured the country extensively by road, making numerous impromptu stops to engage with locals and make unscripted decisions.
Hassan, his successor, has taken steps to reconcile with the opposition, including lifting the ban. However, she has also been criticized for continuing some of her predecessor’s authoritarian policies, including the seven-month imprisonment of Chadema leader Freeman Mbowe on charges of “terrorism financing.”
On Sunday, the police stated that Lissu and three other individuals were detained for questioning regarding allegations of participating in an unlawful assembly and obstructing the police from performing their duties.
In a brief video shared on X, Lissu and other party members were seen making a V-for-victory hand gesture, a common symbol used by CHADEMA.