Tanzania’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu has spoken publicly from Ukonga Central Prison in Dar es Salaam about the conditions of his detention and the political repression facing his party, CHADEMA.

The statement, posted on his X account on Friday, December 5, 2025, was addressed to the Washington Summit of the International Democracy Union (IDU) on November 28, 2025.

Lissu wrote that by the time the summit ended on December 4, he would have spent around 240 days in prison, which he described as utterly unlawful and unjust. Initially, he shared quarters with over a hundred convicted murderers, all sentenced to death.

He said the presence of these death row inmates gave him insights into the inner workings of the criminal justice system that the authorities preferred he did not gain. The inmates were later dispersed, and Lissu now shares a four-block, twenty-four-cell compound with one other detainee.

He is under constant CCTV surveillance and round-the-clock supervision by at least two prison officers. Despite the strict conditions, he acknowledged being treated with some deference by his captors.

“Until about two months ago, I was made to live and share quarters with a hundred or so convicted murderers, all of them condemned to death by our courts of law,” he wrote.

“These death row inmates have now been dispersed to various prisons around the country, after it became clear to the powers that be that the experience was giving me insights into the inner workings of our criminal justice system that they would rather I did not have.”

“So, now I share the four block, twenty-four cell compound with one other detainee, under constant surveillance by CCTV cameras and round-the-clock supervision by at least two prison officers. All the same, I must admit, I have been treated with great deference by my captors, even if the conditions of my captivity could be vastly improved.”

Lissu focused on the political situation in Tanzania rather than his personal hardship.

“But, friends and colleagues, I do not want to dwell much on the trials and tribulations of my prison life during these eight months of my enforced separation from you and from my party and my people. There will, hopefully, be time for that in the future.”

“I want, instead, to focus on the great events which have taken place in my country and which, I believe, demand our urgent attention given their importance not only to Tanzania, but also to two important regions of the African continent, namely Eastern and southern Africa.”

He traced the country’s post-independence politics to the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), whose authoritarian model influenced nationalist movements across Eastern and Southern Africa.

Parties such as Kenya’s KANU, Zimbabwe’s ZANU, Mozambique’s MANU, and Namibia’s SWANU adopted TANU’s one-party structures, state-centred economic policies, and authoritarian tendencies. Lissu said most countries in the region have changed little since independence, maintaining systems shaped by one-party rule. Only Kenya, he noted, has fully moved away from this model.

He criticised the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party for retaining an all-powerful presidency and limiting the independence of Parliament, the judiciary, the press, and civil society. Opposition parties have faced tight control and harassment, and elections have routinely been rigged.

Lissu said CHADEMA emerged as the largest opposition party by 2010 but faced severe repression after the 2015 elections. He survived sixteen gunshot wounds, hospitalisation, and exile, while others were killed, abducted, or imprisoned on false charges.

Lissu warns of repression

Lissu also described the period following President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s rise to power in 2021. Initially, she allowed some political openings, including releasing prisoners and lifting restrictions on exiles. She held Maridhiano talks with the opposition to discuss reforms.

However, Lissu claimed she simultaneously consolidated power, promoted enforcers of the previous regime, and stalled constitutional and electoral reforms. By May 2023, these talks had ended, and repression returned with a wave of abductions, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.

Lissu himself was arrested on April 9, 2025, during a public rally in Mbinga. He was charged with treason and publication of false information under cybercrime laws. Since then, he has remained in maximum-security detention.

He said the arrest triggered a broader crackdown on CHADEMA, including freezing the party’s funding, disqualifying its candidates from elections, and issuing restraining orders to prevent party activities. Other critics, including church leaders and former government officials, faced abduction, attacks, or exile.

The opposition leader also highlighted the violent suppression of protests following the 2024 local elections and the 2025 general elections. According to reports cited by Lissu, security forces used live ammunition against protesters, conducted house-to-house searches, and imposed a six-day internet shutdown to prevent reporting on the crackdown.

He said these actions resulted in hundreds or possibly thousands of deaths, along with thousands more wounded or detained.

Lissu called the protests on October 29, 2025, a turning point. He said they showed the Tanzanian people, especially the younger generation, would not allow the government to suppress them without consequences. He quoted his son, who described the events as the nation’s “first baptism by fire” and emphasised the need to defend liberty against tyranny.

In conclusion, Lissu urged the international community to monitor Tanzania’s political situation closely. He described CHADEMA’s struggle as a fight for democratic reform and warned that the country’s democratic gains remain at serious risk.