Suluhu grabs unfavourable global attention ahead of elections

Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan address members of the public during the inaguration ceremony at the MISC, Kasarani on September 13, 2022. [Kelly Ayodi/Standard]

Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan captured global attention through bad publicity after Kenya's opposition leader Martha Karua and former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, among other Kenyans, were detained and late deported.

By yesterday evening, the whereabouts of activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire were unknown despite claims that they had been deported.

Observers now fear that presidential elections to be held later this year could turn out to be the most skewed and controversial ever since multi-party democracy returned to Tanzania in 1995 because of the continued harassment of opposition leaders.

The Kenyans were stopped from appearing at the Kisutu court in the capital, Dar-es-Salaam, where they intended to observe the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu of the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema). Lissu is facing treason charges, which his allies have dismissed as trumped up and politically motivated.

It is not the publicity Suluhu would have wanted barely four months before presenting herself to the electorate for the first time, in what should be a hotly contested election if a candidate from Chadema were to be allowed to run against her.

But that looks highly unlikely, unless the court case against Lissu and Chadema is overruled because they have been banned for allegedly not signing the elections code of conduct.

The authorities have been restricting activities of the political opposition while allowing politicians from the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) to meet and campaign unhindered.

Mama Samia, as she is popularly known, will be on the ballot for the first time, having assumed office in March, 2021 after the death of President John Pombe Magufuli when she was serving as his vice president.

The amount of awareness created by the deportation of the senior lawyers and human rights activists has been heavily condemned by human rights groups and activists.

The East Africa Law Society (EALS) accused Suluhu of restricting free movement of citizens in blatant violation of the East African Community (EAC) laws and protocols.

The EALS president, Ramadhan Abubakar, described the restriction of entry at the Julius Nyerere International Airport as a shameful blatant abuse of the treaty for the establishment of the EAC and a grave affront to the principles of regional integration, the rule of law and fundamental rights of citizens.

Amnesty International has also asked the Tanzanian authorities to urgently halt the mass arrests and arbitrary detention of government critics ahead of the October General Election. Last year, they also warned against intimidation of members of the political opposition in the run-up to the 2024 local government election.

Tanzanian police have on several occasions arrested Lissu and detained him together with Freeman Mboye and other leading opposition figures.

More than a hundred youth supporters as well as five journalists were recently arrested for allegedly violating a ban on holding a youth conference. They had gathered for Chadema's Nyasa zonal office in Mbeya ahead of the International Youth Day.

The Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), the bar association of mainland Tanzania, was quoted saying police also arrested 107 Chadema party members the same day in the Iringa region.

"The Tanzanian authorities must urgently respect people's rights to freedom of expression and association," said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa.

A lot of expectations were placed on Suluhu's shoulders, especially by women, when she assumed office in 2021, but those hopes are quickly evaporating.

Lawyer Gloria Kimani, who was deported with Karua, argues that Tanzania has been put in a spot because the whole of East Africa and other parts of the world are now aware of what is taking place there.

Kimani notes that, just like Kenya, enforced disappearance of Suluhu's critics has been happening on a big scale but the voice of victims had not been heard because of the posturing by leaders that Tanzania is a peaceful nation.

"We have exposed what is happening. People are now having a voice and speaking boldly. Samia wants to be portrayed as a good person who has been observing the rule of law. She is not happy that it is other people from EAC that are awakening citizens by speaking about what is happening there," says Kimani.

"The law says persons can only be denied entry into any of the sister countries if they are a threat to public order, security or on health grounds, which was not the case when we were deported," says Kimani.

Political activists in the region have cautioned against the worrying trend of authoritarian repression in Tanzania, and the re-emerging political harassment in Kenya, where the government is increasingly deploying state violence, censorship and psychological intimidation to suppress dissent.

Critics like former Deputy President Rigathi Gachgua's meetings have been violently disrupted by armed goons since he was impeached last year. Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki have recently warned him of arrest, even as he claims his life was in danger.

Belgut MP Nelson Koech, who chairs the National Assembly Security Committee, also warned that Gachagua and his allies would be charged for allegedly being behind the Gen Z protests of June last year.

Gachagua has in the meantime dared the State to arrest him if they have evidence that he has broken the law.

The Monday arrest of Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya over alleged corruption by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has also been described by opposition leaders among them Wiper party's Kalonzo Musyoka and DAP-K's Eugene Wamalwa as politically motivated.

Other assaults on civil liberties include the recent teargassing of school girls in Kenya over a play they were supposed to present at the national drama festivals.

Karua argues that elections in Tanzania would not be free unless all candidates are allowed to exercise their democratic rights. She says the treason charges against Lissu, who was arrested after holding a public meeting with a rallying call of "No Reforms, No Elections", cast doubt on a free, fair and credible election.

Leaders in the region also appear to have been rattled by the Gen Z protests in Kenya, where the President William Ruto administration was forced into making many governance changes.

The young protestors demanded good governance, zero tolerance to corruption, and creation of employment opportunities.

Donald Deya, the CEO of Pan African Lawyers Union based in Arusha, says EAC public was working in solidarity, but it is the leaders who appear to be insecure.

"Citizens, including civil society organisations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are working together and expressing solidarity. The fact that the leaders are running governments does not mean they won them," says Dena.

The arrest of Lissu, who commands a large following, under the guise of him being a threat to democratic elections has also exposed the fragility of the egos of the ruling class in Tanzania.

Political pundits fear that unless citizens and institutions confront the growing autocracy in the region, the culture of fear would be used to remove constitutional freedoms through violence disguised as governance.

During President Magufuli's reign, opposition politicians were also frequently harassed, arrested and detained.

On July 21, 2021, the police arrested Mbowe and 11 other Chadema officials in Mwanza as they planned to convene a party conference on constitutional reforms.

On July 14, 2023, lawyer Boniface Mwabukusi and political activist Mdude Nyagali were arrested days after holding a press conference in Dar es Salaam.

On September 10, 2023, Lissu was detained after a political rally in Loliondo.