Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu convicted of incitement, acquitted of treason

A three-judge panel at the High Court in Dar es Salaam on Thursday found Tundu Lissu, Tanzania's main opposition leader, guilty of inciting unrest and sentenced him to four years in prison. The same court cleared him of treason, the far graver charge, ruling that prosecutors had not proved a key element of it.

Lissu is 58 and leads the Chadema party. He has been in detention since April last year, about six months before the October 2025 general election. He was arrested shortly after launching a campaign demanding changes to the electoral system under the slogan "No Reforms, No Election." Prosecutors accused him of making statements meant to incite the public to disrupt the vote and threaten the government, and argued that his remarks, which also circulated online, amounted to treason.

The judges did not accept that. They did conclude, though, that the slogan itself was enough to support a conviction for incitement. "By uttering those words with the intention of disseminating them to the public, the accused incited the public to disrupt the 2025 elections," the court ruled.

Lissu, a lawyer who represented himself at trial, told the court he had only ever been charged with treason. "The offence of incitement is one that you, honourable judges, have manufactured," he said, adding that the judges had created an offence that did not exist and had done so on political directives. He has denied all charges and says his comments were part of a legitimate campaign for constitutional and electoral reform that prosecutors took out of context. He also said he wanted to apply for bail, which is possible for incitement but not for treason, an offence that is among Tanzania's most serious and can carry the death penalty.

He has leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal, the country's highest court. If the four-year sentence stands, he would be ruled out of the next elections, due in 2030. Among Chadema's demands were independently appointed electoral commissioners rather than presidential appointees, police permission for all parties to campaign free of intimidation, an end to government-appointed district chiefs serving as returning officers, unharassed party agents at vote counting, and the ability to challenge presidential results in court.

In custody at Ukonga Prison in Dar es Salaam, Lissu went on hunger strike twice, briefly, saying he was denied access to his lawyers and relatives. He also complained that guards listened in on what should have been private consultations with his lawyers. Prison authorities deny these allegations.

Amnesty International called the conviction a "travesty of justice." Its regional director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, said Lissu should never have been arrested, let alone prosecuted and convicted. Last week, Amnesty also accused the government of continuing its post-election crackdown and "weaponising counterterrorism laws to silence critics and instil fear." The authorities did not respond to a request for comment.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 2025 election with 98% of the vote. The opposition dismissed it as a "mockery" of democracy, since her two main challengers, Lissu among them, were excluded. The vote was followed by widespread protests and a violent security crackdown that left at least 500 people dead, according to an official inquiry. Opposition groups say the toll was far higher and want an independent investigation. Samia, 66, has insisted the election was fair, blamed foreigners for the unrest as part of a plot to overthrow her, and set up another commission of inquiry to identify those behind the violence. Her government denies targeting opponents.

Lissu has long been one of the most outspoken critics of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which with its predecessor Tanu has dominated Tanzanian politics since independence. He became an MP in 2010 for a constituency near his birthplace in Singida. In September 2017 he narrowly survived an assassination attempt when gunmen sprayed his vehicle with bullets outside his home in Dodoma; no one has been brought to justice. Shot multiple times, he was treated abroad and spent years in exile. He returned to run against the late President John Magufuli in 2020 and lost in a vote the opposition said was marred by irregularities, then went back into exile. He came home in 2023 after Samia lifted the ban on opposition rallies, a move first read as political opening. He became Chadema's national chairman in January 2025 and pressed his reform demands harder as the election neared. The next thing to watch is the Court of Appeal.