LHRC Demands Immediate Release of Chadema Leaders Amidst Youth Day Crackdown
August 12, 2024
By Adonis Byemelwa
Freeman Mbowe, the leader of Tanzania's main opposition party, Chadema, along with more than 10 others, were reportedly arrested by the Mbeya Regional Police on 12th August 2024.Photo courtesy
Dar es Salaam, August 12, 2024—The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) has strongly condemned the Tanzanian Police Force for detaining several leaders and members of the Chadema party, alongside journalists, ahead of the World Youth Day commemoration planned by the opposition party in Mbeya.
The event, scheduled for today, August 12, 2024, was met with heavy-handedness as the police arrested key Chadema figures yesterday, disrupting preparations and travel plans for the event.
The detention of Chadema leaders and supporters has sparked outrage, as it directly contravenes Article 20 of the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Political Parties Act No. 258, as amended in 2024, and international treaties such as the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
These legal frameworks guarantee the right of political parties to hold public meetings, conventions, and demonstrations—rights that the police action blatantly disregards.
The crackdown also flies in the face of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's January 2023 announcement, lifting the ban on public political activities imposed in 2016. The President's 4Rs initiative, aimed at fostering reconciliation and political tolerance, appears undermined by this recent action, which seems selectively enforced, given the freedom afforded to other political youth groups in recent days.
While Chadema's Youth Wing (Bavicha) faced police intervention, other political factions, notably the CCM Youth Wing, gathered without interference in Zanzibar on August 10, 2024. Similarly, ACT Wazalendo held their Youth Day events peacefully in Wete, Pemba, on August 11, 2024. The disparity in the enforcement of political freedoms raises serious concerns about discrimination and the selective application of the law.
LHRC is now calling on the police and other security agencies to immediately release the detained Chadema leaders and members without conditions, urging them to allow the exercise of their legal and constitutional rights to political participation.
The situation escalated this morning when Chadema National Chairman Freeman Mbowe and the party's Youth Chairman John Pambalu were arrested at Songwe Airport in Mbeya as they arrived from Dar es Salaam. The duo was en route to meet police officials in Mbeya to address the status and well-being of the detained leaders and members.
The arrest was confirmed by Chadema's Director of Protocol, Communication, and Foreign Affairs, John Mrema, through his X (formerly Twitter) account at 5:45 a.m., stating that the arrest was led by the Mbeya Regional Police Commander (RPC).
Efforts to obtain comments from Mbeya Regional Police Commander Benjamin Kuzaga have been futile, with Kuzaga claiming to be occupied with other matters. Similarly, attempts to reach Mbeya Regional Commissioner Juma Homera and the Police Spokesperson David Misime have also been unsuccessful, further deepening the lack of transparency surrounding the arrests.
The situation has been tense since Sunday night, August 11, 2024, when several Chadema leaders, including the party's Mainland Vice-Chairman Tundu Lissu, Secretary General John Mnyika, and Nyasa Regional Chairman Joseph Mbilinyi (commonly known as Sugu), were reportedly detained at the Chadema Nyasa Regional Offices. As well, numerous Bavicha leaders and members are said to be held in various police stations across Mbeya.
The police intervention was allegedly triggered by a statement from Bavicha referencing the actions of Kenyan youth, which was interpreted as incitement to unrest. This led the police, in conjunction with the Registrar of Political Parties, to ban the event, citing the potential for violence and public disorder. On August 8, 2024, the Registrar issued a letter to Chadema's Secretary General John Mnyika, instructing him to halt all planned activities for today, citing concerns over Bavicha's rhetoric.
The letter, copied to the Inspector General of Police, also summoned Chadema leaders, including Mbowe, Mnyika, and Pambalu, to the Registrar's office in Dar es Salaam tomorrow, Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at 5:00 a.m.
The Legal and Human Rights Centre remains vigilant in monitoring the situation and stands firm in its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained Chadema leaders and members, urging the police to respect the rule of law and the democratic rights of all citizens.
