The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) has today written to His Excellency Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika, Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, raising urgent concerns about the deteriorating democratic space in Tanzania as the country approaches its general elections on 29 October 2025.

In the letter, authored by Melusi Simelane, SALC’s Civic Rights Cluster Lead, we highlight the systematic erosion of fundamental freedoms, including mass detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and judicial harassment targeting opposition figures, journalists, and civil society actors. These violations, which have intensified under President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration, undermine the credibility of the electoral process and risk normalising authoritarianism across the SADC region.

Key issues outlined include the widespread disqualification of opposition candidates from parties like CHADEMA and ACT-Wazalendo during the 2024 local elections, the five-year ban on CHADEMA’s participation in elections imposed in April 2025, and the nullification of its leadership appointments. High-profile arrests, such as those of CHADEMA Chairperson, Freeman Mbowe and National Chairperson, Tundu Lissu, on treason charges, alongside violent crackdowns on peaceful assemblies, exemplify this repression.

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