Tanzania Opposition claims Security Forces Concealing Election Violence Death Toll
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – Tanzania’s main opposition party,โค Chadema, allegesโฃ that security โคforces are secretly disposing of the โขbodies of victims following recent post-election violence, perhaps obscuring the true scale of the deaths. The claims come as โlife slowly returns to normalโ in major cities โafter a six-day internet shutdown and a period of unrest following the March presidential election.
Chadema leaders report at least 400 deaths in the Tunduma area of โtheโฃ Mbeya region alone,with hundreds more reported across other regions. The party alleges security forcesโ are “holding dead bodies” and secretly dumping remainsโฃ to โminimize the reported number of killings.
“We want to seeโข those who shot Tanzaniansโค being held accountable,” stated โChadema official Deogratiusโฃ Munishi, adding โthe party will not engage in political negotiationsโ with the government until electoral and judicial reforms are implemented to ensure justice.
Independent human rights lawyer Tito Magoti, โฃbased in Dar es Salaam, described Tanzania as being “in such โขcrisis,” with citizensโ searching for missing relatives and grappling with โขa deathโค toll he believes exceeds Chadema’s figures. โขMagoti reported receiving a message Tuesday from a source near Arusha detailing two army trucks leaving a hospital mortuary loaded with corpses – one full, the other half-full – and a suspicion that authorities planned to bury the bodies in a forest โas part of a cover-up. He also expressed concern about hospitalโ complicity.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, inaugurated Monday as Tanzania’s โขfirst female leader, acknowledged loss ofโค life in her inaugural address and called for โคa return to normalcy.โค
Authorities have warned against sharing photos and โvideos that could incite โpanic,โ and sentโ text messages to mobile phone users threatening “treason charges” for disseminating images deemed to demean human life or cause unrest. A social media page sharing images and videos of alleged election protest victims was taken down monday after rapidly gaining followers.
On Tuesday, Darโข es Salaam and Dodoma sawโข a โgradual resumption of normal activity, with โฃgas stations, grocery stores, and public transport reopening. Theโฃ government spokesperson on Mondayโค instructed public workers to โขreturn to work, ending a work-from-home โorder implemented after a Wednesday curfew.
