In a turn of events that has gripped the nation and drawn international scrutiny, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the overwhelming victor in the country’s October 29, 2025, presidential election. The official results, announced by the electoral commission on November 1, handed Hassan a staggering 97.66 percent of the vote—an outcome that, while historic for the nation’s first female president, has provoked outrage and unrest across the country. As the dust settles, questions about the legitimacy of the vote and the future of Tanzanian democracy are swirling both at home and abroad.
President Hassan, who ascended to the country’s top office in 2021 after the sudden death of her predecessor John Magufuli, accepted her winner’s certificate at a formal event in Dodoma, the nation’s administrative capital. With her supporters and government officials looking on, she addressed the nation, underscoring the significance of the moment. “Tanzanians voted overwhelmingly for a female leader,” she declared, before pivoting to a call for unity. “Now the election is over, it’s time to unite our country and not destroy what we’ve built over more than six decades.” Hassan also issued a stern warning: “We will take all actions and involve all security agencies to ensure the country is peaceful.”
But the path to her victory was anything but peaceful. The main opposition party, Chadema, was barred from participating in the election, a move its leaders have labeled “a mockery of the democratic process.” Chadema spokesman John Kitoka told AFP, “We are calling for the intervention by a credible body to oversee another fresh election.” The exclusion of major opposition figures—including Chadema leader Tundu Lissu, who was jailed on treason charges after calling for electoral reforms, and Luhaga Mpina of ACT-Wazalendo, who was barred from running—set the stage for widespread dissent.
As election day unfolded, demonstrators flooded the streets of major cities, protesting what they saw as a rigged process and the systematic repression of government critics. According to reports cited by Al Jazeera and France 24, the protests quickly escalated: banners of President Hassan were torn down, government buildings set ablaze, and security forces responded with tear gas and live ammunition. Witnesses described scenes of chaos as police and military deployed in force to quell the unrest, with internet and social media access restricted in several cities—a move confirmed by internet watchdog NetBlocks.
The aftermath has been grim. Chadema told AFP that, based on figures from a network monitoring hospitals and clinics, “about 700” people had been killed during the crackdown. By Saturday, Kitoka raised that estimate to “no less than 800 people.” The UN human rights office, meanwhile, reported at least 10 deaths in Dar es Salaam, Shinyanga, and Morogoro, while the foreign ministers of the UK, Canada, and Norway issued a joint statement citing “credible reports of a large number of fatalities and significant injuries, as a result of the security response to protests.”
Yet, Tanzanian authorities have pushed back against these claims. Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo told Al Jazeera on November 1 that “no excessive force has been used,” adding, “the government has no official figures on any protesters killed. I’ve not seen these 700 anywhere.” President Hassan, for her part, condemned the actions of protesters as “neither responsible nor patriotic,” asserting, “When it comes to the security of Tanzania, there is no debate – we must use all available security avenues to ensure the country remains safe.”
The violence and heavy-handed response have drawn international condemnation. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Tanzania, “including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations.” African Union chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf extended congratulations to Hassan but also expressed regret over the loss of life, stating, “he deeply regrets the loss of human life during the post-electoral protests and extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims.”
Rights groups, including Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group, have painted a bleak picture of the pre-election environment, citing a “wave of terror” and a pattern of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial killings. In June, a United Nations panel of human rights experts referenced more than 200 cases of enforced disappearance since 2019, warning of “a pattern of repression” ahead of the polls. The International Crisis Group described the government’s actions as “an unprecedented crackdown on political opponents,” noting restrictions on freedom of expression, bans on social media platforms, and the silencing of critics through intimidation and arrest.
Political analysts have been blunt in their assessments. Alex Vines, Africa director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera there had been “a campaign of harassment and intimidation” toward the opposition, adding, “It clearly is not a credible election.” He pointed to the unexpected scale of violence and the prominent role of young protesters—members of Generation Z—who, he said, “think they have been left behind.”
The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has held power since Tanzania’s independence from Britain in 1961, now extends its streak with Hassan’s victory. The CCM’s enduring grip on power has long been attributed to its deep roots in rural communities and its fusion with the state’s security apparatus. Yet, the landslide nature of Hassan’s win—97.66 percent of the vote—stands out even in a region where dominant-party politics are the norm. Only Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has regularly achieved such margins, fueling further skepticism among observers who see the result as less a contest than a coronation.
For many Tanzanians, the government’s decision to postpone the reopening of universities, originally scheduled for November 3, is just one more sign of the country’s tense political climate. In Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital, the streets were described as “tense calm” on November 1, with security forces manning roadblocks and checking identity cards of anyone venturing outside.
Despite the turbulence, President Hassan has called on Tanzanians to look forward. “It’s time to unite our country and not destroy what we’ve built over more than six decades,” she reiterated. But with the opposition decrying the process as illegitimate, international voices raising alarms, and the specter of violence still looming, the path to national unity appears fraught with obstacles.
As Tanzania confronts the aftermath of its most contentious election in decades, the world watches closely. The coming weeks will reveal whether calls for dialogue and reform can overcome the deep divisions now exposed—or if the CCM’s iron grip will harden further, leaving the country’s democratic aspirations in doubt.
