TZ: CHADEMA demands independent probe as UN urges accountability for protest deaths

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania's main opposition party Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) has called for an independent international investigation into mayhem that resulted in deaths of protesters during the October 29, 2025, General Election.

CHADEMA Deputy Chair John Heche on Wednesday expressed deep mistrust in the government's ability to conduct a fair probe, accusing officials of bias and complicity.

"Those people in government as it is, cannot be entrusted to conduct any meaningful investigation to unearth the truth about the massacre," Heche said shortly after the hearing of treason charges against party leader Tundu Lissu was adjourned yet again.

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Tuesday urged investigations into the killings and other violations committed in the context of the 29 October 2025 elections in Tanzania.

“Reports of families desperately searching everywhere for their loved ones, visiting one police station after another and one hospital after another are harrowing. I strongly urge the Tanzanian authorities to provide information about the fate and whereabouts of all those missing, and to hand over the bodies of those killed to their loved ones so that they can be given dignified burials,” said Türk.

He urged the Tanzanian authorities to investigate the allegations of human rights violations, fully and transparently, and to hold those responsible to account.

Heche, however, casts doubt on whether the authorities can comply.

He claimed that the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, had "imposed itself upon the voters" through electoral irregularities, insisting that "there were no genuine elections in Tanzania." 

He called a Kenyan-like commission to be established as it was the case when the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) investigated the cause of the chaos that rocked Kenya in 2007 when Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga squared it out in a presidential race.

He lamented that the current leadership had strayed far from the vision of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Tanzania's founding father, who championed unity and justice during the struggle for independence until the country was free in 1961.

"Tanganyika has long been renowned as a nation that fights for justice, from the days of our independence movement," Heche said, invoking historical figures and events to rally supporters.

He drew parallels with Nyerere's hospitality towards liberation icons, noting how the late president welcomed Nelson Mandela – the anti-apartheid hero from South Africa – and freedom fighters from Angola during their struggles against oppression.

The election, marred by allegations of vote-rigging and suppression, sparked nationwide protests that escalated into deadly clashes.

Opposition leaders and human rights groups claim security forces killed over 1,000 demonstrators in crackdowns across regions including Arusha, Dar es Salaam, and Mwanza with reports of bodies being secretly dumped to conceal the scale of the violence.

In Zanzibar (semi-autonomous archipelago), CCM's Hussein Mwinyi won the presidency.

At least two Kenyans have been confirmed among victims that perished in the crackdown in mainland Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika).