NAIROBI, (Reuters) – Tanzanian police arrested two opposition leaders again today, their party and police said, to stop anti-government protests in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
The main opposition party CHADEMA’s chairman Freeman Mbowe was detained on the street, while his deputy Tundu Lissu was taken from his home amid plans to demonstrate against alleged killings and abductions of government critics.
Rights campaigners say President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government is targeting opponents ahead of local elections in December and a national vote in 2025.
Police said 14 people were arrested including Mbowe and Lissu for defying a prohibition on the protests.
There was no immediate comment from Hassan’s government, though it has previously said it defends democracy and does not tolerate brutality.
CHADEMA said on social media platform X that Mbowe was arrested in the Magomeni area of the city when he arrived to lead a peaceful protest. A convoy of 11 vehicles picked up Lissu and left without saying where he was going, it added.
The pair were also briefly arrested, along with hundreds of supporters, last month.
Lissu survived being shot 16 times during an assassination attempt in 2016.
Earlier this month another senior CHADEMA member was abducted from a bus, his body later found with signs he had been beaten and had acid poured on his face.