TANZANIA; Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has said she is “deeply saddened” by the deadly election crackdown on the protesters, sent out condolence messages, ordered investigation into the matter and promised constitutional reforms in 100 days.
In her first display of empathy amid mounting international scrutiny, President Hassan addressed the nation during the opening of the new parliamentary session on Friday, marking a potential turning point in the aftermath of the violent unrest that followed the October 29 presidential election.
“The government has taken the step of forming an inquiry commission to investigate what happened,” Hassan announced, extending heartfelt condolences to grieving families. This probe, she pledged, would uncover the truth behind the bloodshed that has scarred the East African nation.
In a particularly conciliatory gesture, the president said as the mother of the nation she is concerned the fate of the youth trapped in the turmoil. Dozens, including students and first-time activists, face treason charges for their role in the demonstrations.
“I realise that many youths who were arrested and charged with treason did not know what they were doing,” she said softly, positioning herself as “the mother of this nation.” Directing law enforcement to reassess offenses, she urged leniency: “For those who seem to have followed the crowd and did not intend to commit a crime, let them erase their mistakes.”
Suluhu also took trouble to quote the Bible in Luke 23:34 in which Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Her re-election with nearly 98% of the vote, after barring key opposition figures from the race, ignited widespread fury over alleged electoral irregularities. Protests swept through major cities like Dar es Salaam and Arusha, met with a brutal security response including troop deployments and an internet blackout that severed communication for days.
The opposition Chadema party claims hundreds of lives were lost in the crackdown, though official figures remain elusive due to restricted access. Families have scoured police stations and hospitals in vain for missing loved ones, their anguish amplified by enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk recently issued a call for accountability, demanding a thorough probe into the killings, enforced disappearances, and unlawful detentions. “Reports of families desperately searching everywhere for their loved ones… are harrowing,” Türk stated, emphasizing the need to locate the missing and return bodies to kin. His office, hampered by the shutdown, has struggled to verify casualty counts but vows to press for transparency.
Amnesty International launched a global petition on Saturday, urging the indictment of security officials implicated in the atrocities. Titled “Justice for Tanzania’s Fallen,” the initiative has already garnered over 50,000 signatures in 24 hours, calling for “promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially, transparently and effectively” investigations into grave violations, including extrajudicial killings.
“These are not mere protests; they are cries for democracy stifled by state violence,” Amnesty’s Africa director declared.
Domestically, Chadema leaders hailed Hassan’s reform nod promising constitutional changes within her first 100 days as a step toward reconciliation, but warned that probes without independence would ring hollow.
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