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Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of Tanzania’s presidential election, becoming the African nation’s first elected female leader with 98 per cent of the vote in polls marred by deadly protests.
With her win, Hassan, who took power in 2021 after the death in office of her predecessor, gets another five-year term to govern the East African country.
However, Hassan’s victory is also likely to amplify concerns among critics and rights groups, with the UN saying the country of 68 million people faces a “pattern of repression”.
Such a landslide victory is rare in the country.
Leading up to the elections, widespread, deadly protests erupted across Tanzania as Hassan’s two main rivals were barred from running.
Opposition party leader Tundu Lissu has been in jail for months charged with treason, after he called for reforms to conduct free and fair elections.
Tanzania’s ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential candidate and incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan delivers her remarks during the party’s closing campaign rally (AFP via Getty Images)
Another opposition group leader, Luhaga Mpina, was also prevented from running in the election.
UN experts warned in June of over 200 cases of enforced disappearance in the country since 2019, saying they were “alarmed by reports of a pattern of repression”.
“The government has curbed freedom of expression, ranging from a ban on X and restrictions on the Tanzanian digital platform JamiiForums to silencing critical voices through intimidation or arrest,” the International Crisis Group said in a recent analysis.
The main opposition party, Chadema, described the polls not as an election but a “coronation”, claiming over 700 people have lost their lives in protests across the country.
The Tanzanian government denied using excessive force and called the opposition’s tally wildly exaggerated.
In the elections held on Wednesday, Hassan faced 16 candidates from smaller parties as protesters took to the streets across major cities.
The military was deployed, and internet connectivity was shut down temporarily to disrupt travel amid the flaring tensions.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged all parties in Tanzania to “prevent further escalation”.
“I call on all to exercise restraint, reject violence and engage in inclusive and constructive dialogue to prevent further escalation,” Mr Guterres said.
Foreign ministers from the UK, Canada and Norway said in a joint statement there were “credible reports of a large number of fatalities” due to the response of security forces to protests, but Tanzanian authorities have not revealed the exact number of people killed or injured.
