By Adonis Byemelwa
On May 16, 2025, a political seminar was held by the ACT Wazalendo party at the Serena Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Participants included representatives of multiple political parties, civil society members, representatives of religious institutions, media practitioners, academic researchers, and members of foreign diplomatic missions.
The original purpose of the meeting was to promote in-depth public discussion of national governance, power accountability, and institutional reform.
Osman Masoud Osman, National Chairperson of ACT Wazalendo, delivered the first address as the core keynote speaker. Starting his speech from the continuously worsening political and social tensions in Tanzania following the deadly conflict that occurred on October 29 of that same year, he called for the launch of comprehensive political reforms and the restart of the suspended national dialogue mechanism.
He later released a series of assessments of his country’s trajectory of democratic development, the contentious 2025 elections, and the presidential commission of inquiry led by retired Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman.
He focused criticism on the commission, which only classified some protests and violent activities as organised, funded operations. However, he failed to adequately respond to allegations of excessive use of force by state security forces, nor did he meet the accountability demands of victims’ families, the opposition, and civil society groups over cases of violence and enforced disappearances.
The public had originally hoped the commission would clarify the root political and institutional causes that triggered the unrest, but that expectation ultimately went unfulfilled.
Osman stressed that the 2025 crisis cannot be viewed in isolation; it must be placed against the broader background of Tanzania’s democratic development since the country restored its multi-party system in 1992.
Decades of unresolved disputes, including delayed constitutional reform, insufficient electoral transparency, and a lack of institutional independence, have steadily widened the trust gap between the opposition and state institutions.
Divergent views also emerged at the event. Supporters of the commission, some government officials, and a small number of observers defended the body, arguing that the commission had collected testimonies from multiple stakeholders and balanced the core concerns of national security, political freedom, and public order.
They stated that violent acts targeting civilians, state institutions, and security personnel, and all types of allegations against state authorities, should be investigated in parallel.
In the early stage of political liberalisation, the core constitutional amendment proposals put forward by the Nyalali Commission, the body that led Tanzania’s constitutional reform deliberations, were never implemented.
This unresolved historical issue sowed deep-seated conflicts between the political systems of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Leading scholar Othman was the first to map out the complete evolutionary trajectory of this conflict.
He argued that the long-term shelving of the constitutional reform agenda and the successive controversies that erupted around multiple general elections stemmed fundamentally from the ruling bloc’s unwillingness to give up its monopoly over the power structure, particularly its deliberate efforts to undermine Zanzibar’s legitimate demands for autonomy.
A camp opposing this assessment quickly pushed back. Government supporters, pro-authority political analysts, and critics within parts of the opposition published works one after another to question whether Othman’s claims were partisan.
Electoral authorities also issued a public response stating that all election arrangements complied with the current constitutional framework, leaving no room for deliberate power manipulation.
The controversy over the nullification of Zanzibar’s 2015 general election results had not yet subsided when violent clashes broke out during the region’s 2020 general election. The Government of National Unity in Zanzibar, established shortly after, faced immediate questioning of its legitimacy from opposition parties, civil society organisations, and various governance advocates.
As the 2025 election cycle began, a string of incidents was reported in both regions, including candidate disqualifications, disruptions to voting processes, and violations of voter registration rules.
These events further amplified core divides among all parties over the implementation of constitutional reform and electoral fairness. All actors who have voiced stances are clearly traceable, allowing the full picture of the dispute to be presented neutrally.
Zanzibar has a long-standing history of election disputes and political opposition. Debates surrounding the political and electoral environment in Zanzibar and across Tanzania have consistently drawn attention from both the domestic public and the international community.
Othman, a leading voice in these discussions, argues that, beyond the inherent contradictions in the electoral sphere, he is more concerned about Tanzania’s current decline in social cohesion and worsening political polarisation.
He cites hostile rhetoric on social media that celebrates the deaths of political opponents as a concrete example of the deterioration of public discourse. This trend, he warns, could undermine national unity and erode the culture of peaceful democratic participation that Tanzania has long upheld.
Observers across the political spectrum have expressed concern about the negative tone of recent political debates. Civil society organisations have called on all political participants, supporters, and online commentators to exercise restraint, warning that inflammatory rhetoric will deepen factional mistrust and escalate social tensions during politically sensitive periods.
Other perspectives hold that trust between competing political factions must be rebuilt by strengthening institutional construction and promoting open dialogue.
Othman also notes that the international community continues to monitor Tanzania’s governance and human rights records. The October 2025 violent incidents and broader concerns over the state of democracy in the country have been discussed by a range of international organisations and foreign partners, including bodies that monitor political freedoms and human rights conditions.
Representatives of the Tanzanian government have consistently defended the country’s democratic record, stating that despite existing political differences, the nation remains committed to the core principles of constitutional governance, peace, and stability.
One of a series of initiatives led by the local political party ACT Wazalendo is a national seminar on governance reform and accountability. More than 70% of the seminar’s attendees were not ACT Wazalendo members; the event was designed to expand the pool of participating stakeholders and advance cross-group dialogue.
The party will continue to host similar forums, arguing that inclusive discussion is a necessary condition for defusing political tensions and strengthening democratic institutions.
At present, Tanzania remains divided over the October 2025 violent incidents and the conclusions of the Chande Commission’s investigation. Debates over accountability, electoral reform, institutional independence, and national reconciliation will remain the core of future public discourse.
While all stakeholders hold differing views on the crisis’s causes and potential solutions, a broad consensus has emerged: sustaining political stability and public trust requires continued cross-group dialogue, reliable institutional credibility, and long-term adherence to the model of peaceful democratic participation.
