In brief
Tundu Lissu, national chairman of the opposition party CHADEMA, was sentenced to four years in prison by the High Court in Dar Es Salaam on 6 November 2026, after a 576‑day treason trial ended with a conviction for incitement. The court found that his statements urging the public to disrupt the 2025 general election amounted to incitement, a lesser offense than treason. The case remains contested over whether the statements were political discourse or intimidation.
In Dar Es Salaam on 6 November 2026, the High Court of Tanzania’s Dar Es Salaam Sub‑Registry convicted opposition leader Tundu Lissu of incitement and sentenced him to four years in prison after a 576‑day treason trial was concluded. The ruling came after the court determined Lissu’s statements calling for the public to prevent and disrupt the 2025 general election constituted a lesser offense under Section 390 of the Penal Code.
The treason trial originally began on 9 April 2025, the day Lissu was arrested in Mbinga District of the Ruvuma Region. Because treason is a non‑bailable offence, the opposition leader remained in custody for the entirety of the proceedings. Police deployed a heightened security presence around the Posta and Kisutu areas, with armed officers patrolling major roads and key junctions such as Ubungo, Mwenge, Buguruni, and Bus Rapid Transit stations.
During the hearing, the prosecution presented 17 witnesses. Several testified that Lissu’s remarks had influenced them to engage in activities aimed at disrupting the election. Lissu himself testified in his defense, acknowledging that he had made the statements but arguing that they represented legitimate political discourse rather than criminal intimidation.
Judge Dunstan Ndunguru read the judgment, noting that Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act allows a court to convict on a lesser offense even if it is not separately enumerated in the original charge. “The court is satisfied that, under Section 319 of the CPA, the accused committed the lesser offense of incitement under Section 390 of the Penal Code,” the judge said.
The Turkish open court was observed by supporters of CHADEMA, who gathered around the premises despite the dense police presence, and traffic in the area remained orderly.
The ruling follows the prosecution’s claim that Lissu’s remarks were an attempt to intimidate the government, a description that the court found unsupported by the evidence. Lissu, a long‑time opponent of President Samia Ruiz’s administration, has maintained that his speech was a lawful exercise of political expression.
Uncertainties surrounding the case remain pronounced. The prosecution and the court emphasize that Lissu’s statements amounted to incitement, while his defense insists they were legitimate political discourse. No consensus has emerged on whether the remarks crossed the threshold of criminal intimidation, leaving the full legal status of his speech open to further scrutiny within Tanzania’s judicial system.
