Tanzania’s opposition Chadema party has claimed that hundreds of people were killed during recent protests triggered by disputed elections, as the United Nations Secretary-General called for an independent investigation into allegations of excessive use of force by security forces.
John Kituka, spokesman for Chadema — which was barred from participating in the vote, and whose leader is imprisoned on treason charges — said the party had recorded around 700 deaths since the protests began last Wednesday. Demonstrations continue across several cities despite heavy security deployments.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, in the government’s first official response, dismissed the figures as “greatly exaggerated”, saying the unrest involved only “a few isolated incidents”, and denied that security forces had used excessive violence.
The protests erupted following the disqualification of the main challengers to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, an action widely seen by opponents as part of a broad political crackdown. Eyewitnesses reported that police used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse demonstrators.
