Vol 66 No 24 | TANZANIA Hassan faces foreign anger and braces for more unrest 1st December 2025 The government risks losing aid funds and billions in investment in reaction to the election violence as it prepares for Independence Day protests As the scale of bloodshed during the 29 October general election hits home, President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has triggered the country’s deepest crisis for decades, threatening the...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 24 | TANZANIAZAMBIACHINA Beijing backs rail project to rival EU/US Lobito Corridor 24th November 2025 Tazara line to be refurbished by Chinese company for $1.4 billion The agreement struck on 20 November between China, Zambia and Tanzania to refurbish and reopen the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) railway line at a cost of US$1.4 billion... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 23 | TANZANIA The power behind Samia’s throne 21st November 2025 The technocrat and the party hack – that is the early assessment of new Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba and Vice-President Emmanuel Nchimbi, the two men tasked with fronting...
Vol 66 No 22 | TANZANIA Cloud of blood and doubt hangs over Hassan’s victory 6th November 2025 Marked by eerie calm and deadly force, the vote unfolded under an internet shutdown – amid fear and fraud ‘Hundreds’ of Tanzanians were killed by security forces during the presidential election on 29 October and in the days that followed, as President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared...
Vol 66 No 21 | TANZANIA Terror sets the tone for polling day 17th October 2025 Security men guided by the President’s son are said to be behind the abductions and killings creating a climate of fear for the 29 October elections President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s calm, maternal image conceals a streak of ruthless determination to root out all political opposition to ensure her re-election, no matter what the human...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 21 | TANZANIA Ahead of vote, Hassan’s government ratchets up repression 13th October 2025 Relatives of government critic Humphrey Polepole say the former ambassador has been abducted Despite the absence of a major challenger to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, her government is taking no chances, banning coverage of an opposition leader’s trial and stepping up... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 20 | TANZANIA Offering economic upswing, Hassan cracks down on opposition 10th October 2025 Bans on opposition parties make the ruling party’s victory a formality but there are questions on jobs and revenues President Samia Suluhu Hassan and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party are approaching presidential and parliamentary elections on 29 October, from which the leading opposition party Chadema...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 19 | TANZANIA Samia’s tactical electoral concession 15th September 2025 By allowing an opponent to stand, the government may be looking to reduce international criticism Tanzania’s presidential election is set to become slightly more competitive after the High Court ordered that Luhaga Mpina of the ACT Wazalendo party should be allowed to submit... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 17 | TANZANIAWHO'S WHO Tanzania’s climate czar Richard Muyungi 29th August 2025 African unity – alongside climate solutions and access to adaptation finance – will top the agenda at the second Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, which runs from...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 14 | TANZANIA President Hassan tightens her party grip 7th July 2025 Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa will not seek re-election in October President Samia Suluhu Hassan appears to be consolidating her control of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party after Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa became the latest senior official... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 11 | KENYATANZANIA Hassan intensifies crackdown with torture of Kenyan and Ugandan activists 27th May 2025 Boniface Mwangi was held for four days before being dumped at the border The detention and torture of Boniface Mwangi, one of Kenya’s most prominent civil society activists, is the latest move by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s increasingly authoritarian government. Hassan... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 11 | TANZANIAWHO'S WHO President Hassan turns bulldozer 30th May 2025 President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s tenure, once praised for its democratic reforms, has taken a sharp authoritarian turn. After initially reversing some of the repressive policies of her predecessor,...
Vol 66 No 10 | TANZANIAUGANDAOIL AND GAS Museveni’s $4 billion refinery threatens East African oil pipeline 14th May 2025 Kampala has secured investors in the refinery and the 1,400 kilometre pipeline – but are they both viable? At the centre of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s 20-year ambition for Uganda to become the leading energy supplier across East Africa is the plan to build a refinery...
Vol 66 No 9 | TANZANIAEAST AFRICA Karua takes on the autocrats 2nd May 2025 Veteran Kenyan politician Martha Karua is spearheading a campaign against the suppression of opposition parties in East Africa. Ahead of Tundu Lissu’s court appearance on 24 April, the...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 8 | TANZANIA Banning opposition leader Tundu Lissu from elections confirms Samia’s authoritarian shift 14th April 2025 Securocrats in the ruling CCM don’t want to risk a free vote this year despite a stronger economy Charging opposition leader Tundu Lissu with treason and banning him from this year’s election shows that President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s opening of Tanzania’s political space has ended. Calls... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 3 | TANZANIAWHO'S WHO Newsmaker: Lissu rages against the CCM machine 7th February 2025 After seizing control of the opposition Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) party, Tundu Lissu now faces the gargantuan task of taking on President Samia Suluhu Hassan and...
DISPATCHES Vol 66 No 2 | KENYATANZANIA Activists’ kidnapping highlights police campaign of repression 14th January 2025 The abduction of a Tanzanian campaigner, assaulted by unknown assailants in Nairobi, reinforces concerns about a spate of extraordinary renditions The kidnapping and subsequent release hours later of the Tanzanian political activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai in Nairobi is the latest in a chilling series of abductions involving the... READ FOR FREE
Vol 66 No 1 | TANZANIAAFRICA IN 2025 Samia’s liberal dawn is eclipsed 10th January 2025 Nobody expects the current wave of repression to end before the election in October because the Magufulistas have recaptured the ruling party The Tanzanian polity is riven by speculation about how and why the era of reconciliation and openness ushered in by President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been replaced by...