Tanzania - January 2023

On 3 January, President Samia Suluhu Hassan continued her incremental reform of Tanzania’s restrictive political system by lifting a ban on political rallies. The policy had been imposed in 2016 by Hassan’s predecessor, the late John Magufuli. The ban had resulted in frequent arrests of opposition politicians and clashes between their supporters and the police. By the end of January, Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema, had held its first rally in six years and welcomed back from effective exile one of its most prominent leaders, Tundu Lissu, whose return to the country was prompted by the lifting of the ban.  

Sources: Africa Confidential (1), Africa Confidential (2), Reuters, Al Jazeera, The Africa Report