Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan has said the unrest that broke out on October 29 and the violent incidents that followed were not spontaneous but carefully orchestrated to destabilise the government.

Addressing the Dar es Salaam Region Council of Elders at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) on December 2, 2025, President Samia described the events as a manufactured political scheme with deeper motives than initially perceived.

She said intelligence assessments and investigations point to a coordinated plot involving planners, financiers, and ground-level actors.

“What took place was a manufactured event, and those who planned it were determined to overthrow our government,” she said. “This was not an accident. Those behind it aimed to topple our state.”

She described the violence as a broad project of evil, backed by internal and external sponsors. Some participants were misled, while others were enticed or paid to take part.

The President condemned the attacks on government projects, police infrastructure, and private businesses, saying they bore no resemblance to lawful demonstrations.

“In a lawful demonstration people march peacefully with grievances, escorted by police, and disperse after delivering their message,” she said. “What happened instead were organised riots for a specific purpose.”

Samia slams foreign interference

President Samia also questioned why the unrest took place on election day.

“We swore to protect this country, its borders, its people and their property,” she said. “So when some say we used excessive force, what lesser force was expected? Should we have simply watched as those plotting an overthrow succeeded?” She added that other countries have acted firmly when unrest threatens constitutional order.

She criticised foreign interference, saying outsiders have been irritated by Tanzania’s stability and accused them of coming to destroy this country after destroying their own. She called out what she described as foreign arrogance, asking, “Who are you?” She said some countries “think they are our masters, our colonisers,” which she insisted was unacceptable.

She also addressed young people who complained about the cost of living.

“If I could, I would send Tanzanian youths to different countries – even within Africa and in neighbouring states – to see what true hardship looks like, and then claim that Tanzania is a bad place,” she said.

President Samia emphasised Tanzania’s wealth, including rare minerals, as a key reason foreign actors were interested.

“They are drooling over our wealth,” she said. She urged all Tanzanians to safeguard unity, peace, and national dignity. “It should not become a curse that we fight and kill each other,” she said. “Tanzania belongs to all of us, and we must protect it.”