Mo Ibrahim Foundation weighs in on Tanzania electoral violence
London, United Kingdom (PANA) – The violence against civilians protesting against the conduct of elections in Tanzania is "unacceptable”, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has stated.
“We are watching developments in Tanzania, with alarm and misgivings. The violence against the demonstrators is unacceptable,” the London-based foundation by the Sudanese telecommunication entrepreneur, stated Sunday.
Tanzanian President-elect, Samia Suluhu Hassan, is expected to take an oath of office on Monday.
Violence broke out on election day, with the Police accused of unleashing lethal force against those protesting against the elections.
The main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, leader of the opposition party, CHADEMA, remains in prison after failing to make it to the ballot box.
The other opposition parties were also excluded but the Tanzanian authorities insist the parties declined to sign up to an electoral code of conduct and were therefore found to be ineligible to take part in the poll.
Opposition officials said hundreds of people have died in the violence but the UN has put the figure at 10.
“After the authoritarian regime of your predecessor President Pombe Magufuli, we all welcomed you as a reformer President who believed and stood for democracy, rule of law and civil society, as you released political prisoners and offered space to the political opposition," the Mo Ibrahim Foundation stated.
"We are thus dismayed by the new turn taken, banning opposition parties from elections, shutting the internet, shooting at demonstrators, most of them your young people.
"An election which excludes the opposition parties is neither fair nor legitimate, the anger in the street is understandable, and expected."
Police in Tanzania claimed the violence was orchestrated by Kenyans living in the country and that foreigners had crossed into the country and were responsible for the massacre of protesters.
The Mo Foundation, in its Marrakech conference last June, made the point that there could be no leveraging of Africa’s huge domestic resources, no calling for more private capital to invest in our continent, without peace, security and rule of law.
“We specifically raised the alarm over the growing political violence against opposition in the period leading to elections in Tanzania and Uganda, both resource-rich countries,” the Mo Ibrahim Foundation stated.
“The sub-region is already a home for unspeakable violence and human tragedy in Sudan. One failed state is enough,” it said.
-0- PANA AO/MA 3Nov2025
