PREVIEW
The abduction and murder of Chadema’s Ally Kibao is the second attack on opposition activists in a month
The leader of the opposition Chadema party, Freeman Mbowe, has urged President Samia Suluhu Hassan to set up a judicial commission to investigate the assassination of his close colleague Ally Kibao. Mbowe reported that Kibao had been severely beaten and had acid poured in his face.
In a statement on social media, Hassan wrote that ‘the government I lead does not tolerate such brutal acts’. She has also ordered an investigation.
This is the second major attack on opposition leaders in a month, ahead of local elections in November and general elections in 2025. It bears the hallmarks of connivance by state authorities. Kibao was abducted from a bus on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital. His kidnappers claimed to be soldiers, say Chadema officials (AC Vol 65 No 15, Samia reshuffles the troops).
A month ago, hundreds of Chadema officials and supporters were arrested and detained ahead of a planned rally to mark International Youth Day on 12 August, including Mbowe and deputy leader Tundu Lissu (Dispatches 14/8/24, Wave of arrests points to pre-election crackdown). They were later released without charge.
Hassan has sought to position herself as a reformer, ending a ban on political rallies, releasing Mbowe from prison and repealing repressive laws against the media imposed by her predecessor John Magufuli.
Yet activists say that substantive political reforms – to allow free campaigning and a level playing field between parties, as well as constitutional reform – have not progressed, despite Hassan’s promises.
Her opponents argue that Hassan, who is struggling to consolidate her grip on the presidency, remains in hock to the securocrats in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi that supported Magufuli.
Those securocrats, who oppose the idea of a woman running for the presidency on the ruling party ticket, saw Hassan as a stopgap in the wake of Magufuli’s demise. Now many are asking whether they are sabotaging her run for the presidency by attacking the opposition – and whether she has the authority to call them to order.
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