Senior leaders of Tanzania’s main opposition Chadema party, including chairman Freeman Mbowe and his deputy Tundu Lissu, have been released on bail after being arrested ahead of a youth rally.
About 520 people were arrested in a nationwide crackdown to stop Chadema from holding a parade through the southwestern town of Mbeya on Monday.
According to police, some of them are still in custody because they do not meet bail conditions.
The arrests raised fears that Tanzania was returning to the repressive rule of late President John Magufuli, despite his successor Samia Hassan lifting a ban on opposition gatherings and promising to restore political competition.
The police banned the Chadema demonstration, saying it was intended to provoke violence.
They called the party’s call to come together, like the “youth of Kenya,” apparently referring to weeks of deadly anti-government demonstrations in the neighboring East African country.
The youth section of Chadema expected 10,000 people at the demonstration, under the motto ‘take your future into your own hands’.
On Tuesday, the party posted a message on X that its offices in Mbeya were “surrounded by police and they are not letting people in”.
Chadema spokesman John Mrema confirmed the release of several party leaders, including Mr Mbowe and Mr Lissu, but said several others remained in custody.
However, police reported that “all arrested Chadema leaders have been returned to where they came from after interrogation and other procedures”.
Chidema said Mr Lissu was arrested on Sunday and Mr Mbowe on Monday when he arrived at Mbeya airport to post bail to the party chairman and two other officials, including the party’s youth wing leader John Pambalu.
Mr Lissu, who survived an assassination attempt in 2017 after being shot 16 times, returned to Tanzania in 2023 after two years in exile in Belgium.
President Samia, who came to power after the sudden death of Magufuli in 2021, was praised for distancing herself from many of her predecessor’s policies.
But after her arrests, some opposition politicians have criticized her and questioned her commitment to political reconciliation.
Tanzania will hold presidential and parliamentary elections at the end of next year.
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