Tanzanians went to the polls a year ago. Many never came home. The violence of the Tanzanian elections keeps on echoing in the daily lives of its people in silent burials of family members and wary glances thrown back by critics of the state. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was re-elected with 98% in the October 2025 elections where most opposition candidates could not even participate.
The Numbers Nobody Agrees On
Rights groups and the opposition say thousands died. A government-appointed commission puts the figure at 518. That gap is itself part of the tragedy, because a death toll no one will confirm leaves families with nothing to hold on to. Many still have not been able to bury their dead.
In Dar es Salaam, 61-year-old Twaha Bomeza carries shrapnel in his eye and cannot afford the surgery. Joseph Zakayo, 37, has a deep scar on his thigh and can no longer run his motorcycle taxi, the work that fed his household. These are ordinary people whose livelihoods ended in a few days of gunfire.
Mourning Under Watch
The Catholic Church held memorial masses this week, and the opposition party Chadema announced seven days of mourning. The streets stayed quiet and heavily policed. Civil society leader Anna Bwana asked how anyone can commemorate while others are still being kidnapped. Another dissident, Twaha Mwaipaya, was abducted in Kenya and remains missing.
Opposition official John Pambalu was charged with treason this past week. A lawyer at the Legal and Human Rights Centre says his group represents about 56 people facing terrorism-related charges. Amnesty International accuses the state of using counterterrorism laws to silence critics.
What Comes Next
The next flashpoint is close. Opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who is on hunger strike to demand access to his lawyer, faces a treason verdict on November 6. The US ambassador has warned that the killings “will not be swept under the rug,” while Dodoma keeps building ties with Moscow.
For East Africans watching next door, this is no distant story. Kenyans, Ugandans and Rwandans know how quickly a disputed vote can turn deadly, and how long the silence lasts afterwards. Until someone is held to account, Tanzania’s grief will stay unresolved.
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