By Ephraim Agbo
Dar es Salaam burned as ballots were cast. Streets filled with smoke, slogans, and shattered expectations. A petrol station torched. Tear gas in the air. The sound of defiance met the whine of sirens as Tanzania’s long-simmering political tensions erupted into one of its most violent election-day confrontations in recent years.
A Day of Rage and Repression
On October 29, 2025, what began as scattered demonstrations over alleged electoral manipulation quickly spiraled into full-blown unrest across Dar es Salaam and other cities. Protesters denounced the exclusion of opposition figures, internet blackouts, and what they called a “stage-managed vote” designed to extend the dominance of the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
Police responded with tear gas, mass arrests, and live rounds fired in the air to disperse crowds. A Bus Rapid Transit vehicle was torched. Social media went dark. Internet monitors such as NetBlocks confirmed a nationwide shutdown—an unmistakable sign that the state was determined to control both the streets and the narrative.
How Tanzania Got Here
The unrest was neither spontaneous nor isolated. It is the culmination of months of tightening state control, opposition exclusion, and shrinking civic space.
The main opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), was disqualified from the polls earlier this year after failing to sign a controversial electoral “code of conduct.” Its firebrand leader, Tundu Lissu, remains under arrest facing treason charges. With major challengers neutralised, President Samia Suluhu Hassan appeared poised for an easy victory—a result many Tanzanians viewed as predetermined.
In theory, Tanzania remains a multiparty democracy. In practice, it has drifted into what political scientists call competitive authoritarianism—where elections exist, but real competition does not.
The Digital Iron Curtain
This year’s election also marks a new front in the battle for control: cyberspace.
Authorities imposed sweeping restrictions on media and online activity in the run-up to the vote. Independent outlets faced suspensions. Social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook were intermittently blocked. On election day, the entire digital ecosystem went dark.
For a country where young people rely on social media for information and mobilisation, the blackout was both symbolic and strategic. It severed the lifeline of digital democracy. As one youth activist in Dar es Salaam put it, “They silenced the internet because they couldn’t silence the truth.”
The Anatomy of Discontent
Tanzania’s ruling party, CCM, has governed continuously since independence in 1961. Its dominance has long rested on economic stability and nationalist legitimacy. But the social contract is fraying.
Urban youth face rising costs, job scarcity, and an aging political elite perceived as out of touch. The protests were driven less by party loyalty and more by frustration—with the system itself.
The government, aware of these pressures, adopted a dual strategy: repression paired with populism. In the months preceding the election, it announced wage increases and infrastructure promises, while simultaneously tightening the leash on opposition and media. The message was clear: progress comes at the price of obedience.
A Mirror of Regional Trends
Tanzania’s turmoil mirrors a wider pattern across East Africa. Governments in Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia have all faced protests over election integrity and state overreach. The region’s democracies are increasingly defined by the tension between formal elections and informal control—between the ballot box and the barricade.
As one analyst observed, “East Africa’s elections are starting to look less like contests and more like performances.”
The Stakes Ahead
The implications of Tanzania’s protests stretch beyond the day’s chaos.
- For democracy: The events signal a deep erosion of institutional legitimacy. When citizens lose faith in elections as vehicles of change, they turn to the streets.
- For youth: The blackout of both digital and political space risks alienating a generation that already feels unheard.
- For stability: A system that depends on suppression over consent may win the short term—but it mortgages the future.
Tanzania’s leaders face a pivotal choice: open space for genuine competition or risk governing an increasingly restless population.
The Heart of the Matter
At its core, the unrest is not just about ballots—it’s about belonging. Tanzanians are asking the same questions many societies face today: Who gets to speak? Who gets to choose? Who gets to count?
The flames of Dar es Salaam were not simply acts of destruction; they were desperate attempts to be seen.
In the end, the tragedy of Tanzania’s 2025 election is not that people protested—it’s that they felt they had no other way to be heard.
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