Top Brass Of Tanzania's Main Opposition Party Incarcerated Despite Government's Recent Moves For Political Reconciliation

The top brass of Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema, namely Chairperson Freeman Mbowe, Vice-Chairperson Tundu Lissu, and Youth Wing Leader John Pambalu, have been arrested and incarcerated. That was reported by various media on August 12, 2024.

According to the reports, the opposition leaders were arrested in Mbeya City, south west of the country, but where they are been incarcerated is unknown at the moment.

The first to be arrested was Tundu Lissu, on August 11, 2024, while Freeman Mbowe and John Pambalu are said to have been arrested on August 12, 2024. The opposition leaders are said to have been in Mbeya to attend their party's planned rally for celebrating the World Youth Day.

The arrest and subsequent incarceration of the leaders of the country's main opposition party are reportedly on grounds of the planned rally. That contradicts sharply with lifting in 2023 by the current government, of a ban on rallies by political parties, that was imposed by its predecessor said to have been autocratic. The lifting of the ban is said to have been viewed positively by the opposition as the current government's move for reconciliation with it. Particularly, the opposition saw the move as a step in the right direction towards creation of level playing field hence fair competition for all political parties in the country.

The arrest and incarceration of the opposition leaders portray possible re-emergence of autocratic tendencies within the current government of Tanzania. As such, the arrest and incarceration have been strongly condemned by the opposition and political activists there, as well as some international human rights organizations including Amnesty International that has demanded immediate release of the opposition leaders.

All in all, Tanzania still has a long way to go before becoming a truly multiparty democracy, due to lack of some of the basic structural requirements vital for such a political system. For instance, a Constitution that was devised for the country's previous one party system is still applicable today, hence in strict terms making the current political system there more or less a de facto one party system rather than the claimed de jure multiparty system. Political experts there seem to be quite aware of the serious and even laughable inadequacy of their new democratic system, and have called for a new Constitution that reflects multipartyism. However, so far, such calls have reportedly been dealt with dishonestly and indirectly blocked by the ruling party called CCM because it is obviously favoured bigtime by the embattled Constitution. CCM has been in power since its establishment in February 1977, exactly five years hitherto to the adoption of multipartyism in Tanzania in February 1992.

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