President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of Tanzania’s presidential election, securing another term amid days of unrest across the country.
According to the electoral commission, President Samia secured a landslide victory in Wednesday’s election, winning about 98% of the votes. In her victory address on Saturday, she hailed the poll as “free and democratic” while branding the ongoing protests as “unpatriotic.”
However, opposition parties have dismissed the results as a mockery of democracy, citing the arrest or disqualification of key challengers ahead of the vote.
International observers have raised alarms over the lack of transparency and widespread violence that has reportedly left hundreds dead or injured. A nationwide internet blackout has further complicated efforts to verify the actual death toll.
Authorities have imposed and later extended a curfew in an attempt to contain the unrest, while government officials have sought to downplay the scale of the violence.
During the official declaration of results, Electoral Commission Chair Jacobs Mwambegele announced Samia as the winner, with 31.9 million votes, representing 97.66% of the total, from a voter turnout of nearly 87% of the 37.6 million registered voters.
In Zanzibar, where elections are held separately, incumbent President Hussein Mwinyi of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party also won decisively with nearly 80% of the vote. The opposition, however, alleged “massive fraud,” according to the Associated Press.
Samia, 65, expressed gratitude to the security forces for ensuring voting continued despite the unrest, stating: “We thank the security forces for ensuring that the violence did not stop voting. The government strongly condemns these violent incidents. They were not patriotic at all.”
While no major protests were recorded on Saturday morning, tensions remained high in Dar es Salaam, where security checkpoints dotted major roads. On Friday, demonstrators had clashed with police, tearing down Samia’s posters and attacking polling stations, despite warnings from the army chief.
The protests, largely led by young Tanzanians, accuse the government of stifling democracy by jailing or disqualifying opposition leaders. The Chadema party claimed that around 700 people had been killed in clashes, while a diplomatic source told the BBC there was credible evidence of at least 500 deaths.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Kombo Thabit dismissed the reports, describing the situation as “isolated incidents” and insisting that security forces responded “swiftly and decisively.”
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres voiced deep concern over the situation, urging restraint and dialogue. The UK, Canada, and Norway have issued similar statements, citing credible reports of mass casualties.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused the government of state repression, pointing to disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of opposition figures. The government, however, denies these allegations, insisting the election was free and fair.
Samia, who became Tanzania’s first female president in 2021 following the death of John Magufuli, now extends her leadership amid one of the most turbulent election periods in the country’s history.