Tanzania briefly arrests opposition leaders to stop protests

Tanzania's main opposition party CHADEMA's chairman Freeman Mbowe is detained by Tanzania police during the protests to condemn a series of kidnappings and murders within the Magomeni area of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, September 23, 2024. /Emmanuel Herman

NAIROBI - Tanzanian police arrested three opposition leaders again on Monday, 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.

CHADEMA said later on Monday that police arrested another senior official and an unspecified number of party members and staff and guards at two of their offices in Dar es Salaam.

Police also took into custody three journalists covering the protests, according to their employers Mwananchi Communications Ltd and East Africa TV. The journalists were later released, the two companies said. No reason was given for their arrests. Police were not immediately available for comment.

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 ban on the protests.

Late on Monday, police released on bail Mbowe, Lissu and other senior party leaders Gobless Lema and Benson Kigaila, CHADEMA said on its X account, without saying what charges police planned to take them to court with.

The party said Mbowe had stayed on at the station awaiting the release of others who had been arrested with him.

There was no immediate comment from Hassan's government, though it has previously said it defends democracy and does not tolerate brutality.

CHADEMA had said earlier 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 being taken, 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 and his body later found with signs he had been beaten and had acid poured on his face.

-(Reuters)