Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Friday ordered the release of close to 500 youth facing treason charges for engaging in anti-government demonstrations during the October 29 General Election, striking a motherly tone with a potentially decisive demographic of the country’s populace in the early days of her final term in office.
In an eagerly awaited speech to a nation still reeling from the effects of the deadly violence inflicted on the demonstrators by state security forces, Samia said most of the suspects “did not know what they were doing” and were “only going with the flow.”
