TANZANIA'S OPPOSITION LEADERS ARRESTED

Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu was arrested by police on Wednesday , after attending a rally in Mbinga.

Lissu's Chadema party said on X that Lissu, its chairman, "has been arrested along with other members" and taken into custody after a rally in Mbinga, a town in the southern Ruvuma Region.

The party said in a short message that it was unclear what station they had been taken to. It continued that police were "dispersing citizens at the venue using tear gas".

In another post on X, the party called on police to "release our leaders immediately and without any conditions".

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, ascended from the vice presidency to presidency in 2021, after the unprecedented death of the then President, John Magufuli.

Suluhu lifted the restrictions that her predecessor , the late Magufuli, had imposed on the media and the opposition. This move elicited appraisals from the Tanzanians to their president Suluhu.

However, human rights groups and Western governments have criticised the recent arrests of Chadema politicians as well as abductions and murders of opposition figures. This has raised concerns on wether President Suluhu's lift was sincere or lies guised under false promises.