Tanzania’s Power Play: President Samia Suluhu Hassan Amidst Opposition Crackdown

President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s Tanzania🇹🇿 government has blocked two top officials of the country’s main opposition party, Chadema, from leaving the country, even as its leader Tundu Lissu remains behind bars after being charged with treason.

Last night, Leonard Joseph Magere, the party’s specialist for Resources, Projects and Investment was blocked from travelling to the UK.

Director of Communications and Publicity, Ms. Brenda Rupia, was also denied entry into Kenya and was detained by authorities at the Namanga border.

Ms. Rupia was en route to Nairobi for a scheduled meeting before traveling onward to Munich, Germany, where she was expected to participate in a training on democracy and elections, the party says in a statement.

Still, the Acting Deputy Secretary General for the party’s mainland Tanzania, Amani Golugwa, was also blocked from travelling to Brussels for a Summit.

In June, Godbless Lema, one of its top officials, was similarly denied exit from Tanzania as he tried to cross over into Kenya to attend a medical appointment in Nairobi.

He said he was held at the Namanga border for over 4 hours and was forced to go back to Arusha, with his passport confiscated.

The party and rights groups fear this appears to be part of an ongoing Tanzania’s government strategy to diminish the party’s influence and popularity abroad ahead of a general election later this year.

The main opposition party, Chadema, has been barred from contesting presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

President Hassan is seeking to defend her incumbency through the ballot for the first time after succeeding the late President John Pombe Magufuli.

Source: Kennedy Wandera