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Tanzania Cleared Its Opposition Leader of Treason. Then It Convicted Him of the Same Speech for Four Years.
A three-judge panel found no intent to overthrow the state, but enough intent to incite. The distance between those two words is where Tanzania’s politics now sits.
The Bottom Line
On Friday a three-judge High Court panel in Dar es Salaam acquitted Tundu Lissu, chairman of the opposition party Chadema, of treason and convicted him of the lesser offence of incitement, per The Citizen. Bareta News, citing Reuters, reports a four-year prison sentence, and says prosecutors “failed to prove the intention required for treason,” an offence that carried a possible death sentence. Lissu has been in custody since April 2025. Chadema says it will appeal.
A speech and a slogan
The case rests on remarks Lissu allegedly made on 3 April 2025 in Dar es Salaam during Chadema’s “No Reforms, No Election” campaign. According to the Rio Times’ pre-verdict explainer, prosecutors argued the speech urged the public to stop the October 2025 election. Bareta says they alleged it encouraged supporters to disrupt the vote. Lissu denied wrongdoing. The treason count came under Section 39(2)(d) of the Penal Code, with a penalty of up to death.
