After the government lifted a prohibition on political demonstrations, Tanzania’s opposition leader and former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu announced he will return home this month to “create a new chapter.” As part of her reconciliation agenda after succeeding John Magufuli in March 2021, President Samia Suluhu Hassan removed the six-and-a-half-year ban on political gatherings last week. Magufuli’s 2016 prohibition permitted elected lawmakers to rally in their constituencies but prohibited other political gatherings and protests.
“With the lifting of the unlawful prohibition on political action, it’s now time to come home and get back to work,” Lissu tweeted on Friday, announcing he will arrive on January 25. Lissu stated “we cannot continue to constantly live in exile” in a YouTube address broadcast on Tanzanian local networks. I’m hopeful we’ll start a fresh chapter this year. “2023 is a significant year in our country’s history,” he remarked. In September 2017, unknown attackers shot Lissu 16 times, especially in the lower abdomen, in the administrative capital Dodoma. He fled the country to seek treatment overseas. In the year before the incident, he was detained eight times. In 2020, Lissu reappeared for a few months to run against Magufuli, who died five months after winning his second term. CHADEMA, Lissu’s party, challenged the results owing to serious irregularities. He escaped to the German ambassador’s house in Tanzania after getting death threats before departing for Belgium. In July 2021, Hassan’s reform hopes were dashed when Lissu’s party mate Freeman Mbowe was imprisoned on terrorist accusations. Hassan was released after seven months, yet others called him a “dictator.”
The president met with Lissu in Brussels in early 2022, raising expectations for improvement. Hassan overturned several of Magufuli’s most unpopular decisions, including easing a ban on four media, and pledged opposition-demanded changes. “President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government and party have proved they are ready for a new adventure.” In the video message, Lissu remarked, “We need to demonstrate that we are also ready for that.” “I am coming home for our nation’s new beginning.”
