Fourteen members of Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party, including two leaders, were briefly detained on Monday as police tried to thwart a banned demonstration in the main city, Dar es Salaam.
Chadema said on X that the party’s chairman, Freeman Mbou, was detained as he was preparing to “lead a peaceful protest”.
Chadema said police also went to the home of the party’s vice-president, Tundu Lissu, in a convoy of 11 vehicles and arrested him.
Critics fear the detentions are a sign the country is returning to the more repressive rule of former president John Magufuli.
Chadema had planned the demonstration to protest against recent killings and alleged abductions of opposition leaders in the country.
Last week, President Samia Suluhu Hassan recommended against demonstrations and any related actions, saying her administration would not tolerate any actions that endanger law and order.
Police declared the protests illegal but the opposition had vowed to defy the ban.
“We are paying the full price of democracy… As an opposition leader, I need to show the way,” Mboye told reporters shortly before his arrest.
Local news site The Citizen reported that journalists covering the protests had also been detained.
The party said police blocked two Chadema leaders from entering their homes in Dar es Salaam early on Monday and questioned them about whether they had taken part in protests.
Chadema said later in the day that Mboye and Lissu had been released on bail, but did not say on what charges police planned to produce them before court.
Riot police have been deployed on major roads in Dar es Salaam since Saturday.
Last year, President Samia promised to lift a ban on opposition rallies and restore competitive politics, but for some, recent events signal a reversal of those promises of greater political freedom.
Rights groups and critics fear the president’s tactics are aimed at intimidating political opponents as local elections this November and general elections in October 2025 approach.
