Tanzania’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, has been found guilty of inciting unrest and sentenced to four years in jail, in a case that has raised concerns about political freedom in the East African country.
A panel of three judges at the High Court in Dar es Salaam acquitted him of the more serious offence of treason, saying prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of that charge.
But they said the 58-year-old, who has been detained since April last year, had encouraged his supporters to disrupt the disputed 2025 general election.
Lissu, who leads the opposition Chadema party, has denied the charges, describing the prosecution as politically motivated.
The court said his campaign slogan “No Reforms, No Election” was sufficient for him to be convicted of the charge of incitement.
“By uttering those words with the intention of disseminating them to the public, the accused incited the public to disrupt the 2025 elections,” the court ruled.
Lissu said he had only been charged with treason, not incitement.
“The offence of incitement is one that you, honourable judges, have manufactured. You have created an offence that did not exist, and you have done so on political directives,” Lissu told the court.
He added that he would like to apply for bail as this was possible for incitement, unlike treason.
He has leave to appeal at the Court of Appeal – the country’s highest court.
But if the four-year sentence is upheld, it would rule him out of the next elections, due in 2030.
Treason is among Tanzania’s most serious offences and can carry the death penalty.
Human rights group Amnesty International described his conviction as a “travesty of justice”.
“Tundu Lissu should never have been arrested, let alone prosecuted and convicted,” said its regional director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah:
President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 2025 election with 98% of the vote – a result the opposition dismissed the result as a “mockery” of democracy as her two main challengers, including Lissu, were excluded.
Her government has repeatedly denied targeting its opponents.