East Africa counts huge losses from Tanzania’s post-poll crisis
Demonstrators burn tires on a deserted road in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, during violent protests after the disqualification of the country’s leading opposition candidates on October 29, 2025.
Last week, Tanzania sneezed and East Africa is catching a cold. The October 29 General Election goes down as the most discredited in the history of the nation, with rights groups and observer missions of the African Union and Southern African Development Community saying it was largely rigged in favour of incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her party Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
The credibility of the election was called to question early before polling day, partly due to the blockage of Samia’s worthiest rivals, Chadema’s Tundu Lissu and ACT-Wazalendo’s Luhaga Mpina, from contesting under questionable circumstances and, in Mpina’s case, against a court ruling.
