Tanzania - January 2024

First political protest in years held peacefully

The first significant opposition protest in many years took place in Dar es Salaam on 24 January. In January 2023, President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced the termination of a ban on most political rallies that had been imposed by former president John Magufuli in 2016, but the government continued to repress protests, most notably in June 2023. In the event on 24 January, thousands of supporters of the opposition Party for Democracy and Progress (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, CHADEMA) peacefully rallied to call for reforms to the electoral laws and constitution that would decrease the power of the president, particularly relating to the independence of the electoral management body (EMB).

Sources: The Citizen, Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch