Opposition fury as Tanzania bans opposition rallies

Tanzania riot police arrest an opposition supporter who was one of the hundreds of people who had gathered for a public rally called by Chadema in Kahama District yesterday. Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd.

Dar es Salaam.
Opposition leaders and rights activists have condemned an indefinite police ban on political rallies saying it amounted to ‘outright violation’ of freedom of expression.
Police fired teargas to disperse a sanctioned opposition rally in Kahama District Tuesday just a few hours after the ban was announced.
Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe was scheduled to launch his party’s countrywide rallies to oppose President John Magufuli’s leadership style.
Hundreds of opposition supporters who had gathered at the CDT grounds had running battles with the police after the rally was abruptly cancelled.
Mr Mbowe and several other Chadema leaders, including MPs, had arrived in Kahama for the launch.

Police had permitted the meeting before abruptly cancelling it. Shinyanga regional police boss Mika Nyange declined to comment on the issue, and referred The Citizen to the district police chief.

Chadema and the Alliance for Democratic Change ACT-Maendeleo, which has planned similar “anti-Magufuli” rallies, said the move was unreasonable and a blatant abuse of authority.

ACT-Wazalendo said it was consulting its lawyers with a view to challenging the ban in court. A police statement signed by Operations and Training Commissioner Nsato Mssanzya said the ban on the rallies followed intelligence indicating that political parties planned to use them to incite civil disobedience. He said CCM had also indicated its resolve to counter the opposition rallies, which could lead to violence.

The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRGG) said it would convene a meeting over the issue before issuing a statement.
Chadema deputy secretary-general (Zanzibar) Salum Mwalimu told The Citizen from Shinyanga that they would not halt the meetings as they had police permission. “This is a clear suppression of democracy. If their intelligence showed that our rallies were a threat to peace and security they were supposed to beef up security instead of banning the meetings,” he said.

The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said it was shocked by police move, adding that recent moves to suppress democracy in the country would erode the faith people have in President Magufuli. “Despite support for the government’s crackdown on corruption and embezzlement of public funds, we are worried about clear signs the government wants to suppress democracy in the country,” said LHRC executive director, Dr Hellen-Kijo Bisimba.

ACT-Wazalendo leader Zitto Kabwe said: “I vehemently abhor dictatorship tendencies taking shape in our country. Our party will seek court redress. President Magufuli abhors dissenting views, something which is bad for a modern political leader,” he told The Citizen.

Civic United Front (CUF) deputy secretary general Nassor Ahmed Mazrui accused CCM of misusing the police to safeguard its political interests.

“That’s the trick CCM has been using. They have been using the same trick in Zanzibar for months now. They use the police to push for their political interests…it is unfortunate that police have fallen on that trap,” he said.

CCM spokesman, Mr Christopher Ole-Sendeka said the party will hold a press conference on the matter today.
In January, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa refuted reports he gave a blanket order banning political parties from holding rallies in the country.