NAIROBI: Around 700 people have been killed in three days of election-related protests in Tanzania, the main opposition party said on Friday, as demonstrators remain on the streets amid an ongoing Internet blackout.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan had hoped to consolidate her position and silence critics within her party with a decisive victory in Wednesday’s election, in which many of her main opponents were either jailed or barred from running.
The vote, however, quickly descended into chaos. Crowds in Dar es Salaam and other cities tore down campaign posters and clashed with police at polling stations, prompting a curfew and an Internet shutdown.
With foreign journalists largely barred from covering the election and communications cut off for the third day, reliable information from the ground has been limited.
Chadema, the main opposition party, said clashes between protesters and security forces continued in the commercial capital on Friday.
“As we speak, the figure for deaths in Dar (es Salaam) is around 350, and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall figure is around 700,” Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told AFP.
“The death toll could be much higher,” he warned, saying killings could be happening during the nighttime curfew.
A security source told AFP they were hearing reports of more than 500 dead, “maybe 700-800 in the whole country.”
“We are talking hundreds of deaths,” a diplomatic source told AFP.
The United Nations reported that “credible information” indicated at least 10 people had died, marking the first figures released by an international body, while Amnesty International said it had received reports of at least 100 fatalities.
President Hassan has not commented on the unrest, and local news outlets have not provided updates since Wednesday.
The only official statement came from army chief Jacob Mkunda late Thursday, who described the protesters as “criminals.”
In Zanzibar, a popular tourist destination with its own semi-autonomous government, a spokesperson for Hassan’s ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), said the Internet would be restored once the situation stabilised.
“The government knows why they have shut down the Internet. There are people who have tried creating tension in Dar es Salaam, and they have destroyed a lot of things,” spokesman Hamis Mbeto told reporters.
In Zanzibar, the ruling CCM was declared the winner of the local vote on Thursday. The opposition party, ACT-Wazalendo, rejected the result, stating: “They have robbed the people of Zanzibar of their voice… The only solution to deliver justice is through a fresh election.”
Since assuming office following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli in 2021, President Hassan has faced opposition from segments of the military and allies of the late leader, analysts say.
Observers note that Hassan sought a decisive victory to solidify her position, while authorities banned the main opposition party, Chadema, and put its leader on trial for treason.
