By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was charged with treason on Thursday, a day after his arrest at a public rally where he called for electoral reforms ahead of the general elections scheduled for October.
Lissu, who chairs the main opposition party CHADEMA, was detained Wednesday night on allegations of incitement, according to regional police. Opposition parties in Tanzania have been demanding reforms to ensure a free and fair electoral process.
On Thursday afternoon, Lissu appeared at the Kisutu Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam, accompanied by his legal team and fellow opposition politicians, and appeared in good spirits.
His arrest came shortly after he concluded a rally in Mbinga, a town in southern Tanzania over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the capital. He was forcibly taken into a police vehicle following the event.
Human rights groups have criticized President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration for its increasingly repressive stance toward opposition voices.
The government has rejected these accusations. Lissu, a prominent critic of the ruling party, survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot 16 times.
As Tanzania prepares to elect a president and members of parliament in October, CHADEMA continues to challenge the lack of an independent electoral commission and the legal framework that it says disproportionately favors the ruling party, CCM, which has held power since the country’s independence in 1961.
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