Tanzania's President Samia meets opposition leader Freeman Mbowe, again

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday evening held talks with the leader of the main opposition party, Freeman Mbowe, at State House Dar es Salaam ahead of the opposition party's general meeting.

“We are aware of what the two have talked about, but it is not for public consumption just yet,” said Gervas Lyenda, the Chadema spokesperson for the coastal region.

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No further communication, from both Chadema and the presidency, has been released about the meeting.

Mbowe, the chairman for Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), is expected to take part in the party’s Central Committee meeting on Tuesday leading up to the executive council on Wednesday.

This is the second time the President is meeting Mbowe this year.

The president met with Mbowe at State House, Dar es Salaam on March 4, 2022 after prosecutors dropped terrorism charges against him.

This was two days after religious leaders in Tanzania met with the president, urging her to intervene in Mbowe’s case and have him released.

Read: Did Samia have Freeman set free to push gender agenda?

Prior to this, in February, she travelled to Brussels in Belgium and met Chadema Deputy Chairman Tundu Lissu, who has been in exile following an assassination attempt in Dodoma in 2017.

Her meetings with the opposition are seen as straying from her predecessor John Magufuli’s footsteps. When she took over office in March last year following Magufuli’s death, President Samia promised to call the opposition to dialogue – partially fulfilling this by meeting opposition leaders.