@ResistSphere / X 🇹🇿
Tanzania on the Edge: Crackdown, Corruption, and a Rigged Election:
Tanzania General Election 29. October 2025, the atmosphere in the country is tense, heavy with fear and suspicion. Across the country, ordinary citizens speak in whispers about abductions, arrests, and the sudden disappearance of dissenting voices. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, has systematically dismantled the mechanisms of political accountability. Opposition leaders are jailed, parties silenced, and the media muzzled a clear signal that this election cycle is unlike any Tanzania has seen.
Mr. @TunduALissu, CHADEMA chairman and long-time opposition figure, has been charged with treason, an allegation many observers, including human rights groups, describe as politically motivated. His party has been banned from participating in the October 29 elections, after refusing to acquiesce to rules widely seen as engineered to guarantee CCM’s victory. This move, combined with a climate of fear, demonstrates a deliberate strategy to eliminate meaningful political competition ahead of a preordained election outcome.
I spoke senior journalists who confirmed that press freedom in Tanzania is under siege. Independent media outlets face censorship, journalists are harassed or detained, and access to social media is restricted — only accessible via VPNs. Human rights advocates have warned that this pervasive suppression of dissent has created a society where citizens live in constant fear, unsure of when the state might target them for speaking out. Even law enforcement like @tanpol, tasked with protecting citizens, is widely viewed as a tool of the ruling party rather than a neutral institution.
Corruption within the administration compounds the political crisis. While President @SuluhuSamia has publicly championed anti-corruption efforts, investigative sources and local observers indicate that transparency remains limited and favoritism pervasive. State contracts, governance decisions, and appointments appear to favor loyalists, eroding public trust in institutions and further entrenching CCM’s control. My reporting confirms that these patterns of abuse are intensifying as the election approaches, creating a situation where the system itself is weaponized against accountability.
As the October 29 elections near, Tanzania faces a profound democratic crisis. From the abduction of political figures to the silencing of opposition parties and journalists, the evidence points to an orchestrated effort by CCM to retain power at any cost. In my reporting across Dar es Salaam and through interviews with diplomats, activists, and everyday citizens, one reality is clear: the country’s political freedoms are shrinking, and the international community must scrutinize these elections closely. The question that hangs over Tanzania is not only who will win on October 29, but whether the nation can reclaim its democratic integrity before it is too late.
29 / #OKTOBA29TUNATOKA