Tanzania’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, has been found guilty of inciting unrest and sentenced to four years in prison after the High Court acquitted him of the more serious charge of treason.
A three-judge panel delivered the ruling in Dar es Salaam on Friday, November 6, 2026, ending approximately 19 months of proceedings against the chairman of the opposition CHADEMA party.
The judges ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of the treason charge but found that Lissu’s campaign slogan, “No Reforms, No Election”, amounted to incitement to disrupt the October 2025 General Election.
“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, who has been in detention since April 2025, denied the charges, maintaining that his statements were part of a legitimate campaign for electoral and constitutional reforms.
Lissu disputes incitement conviction
Following the ruling, Lissu challenged the court’s decision to convict him of incitement, arguing that the offence had not been part of the original treason charge.
“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,” he told the court.
He also indicated that he intended to seek bail, arguing that the incitement conviction allowed him to apply for release, unlike the treason charge.
The court granted him leave to appeal at Tanzania’s Court of Appeal, the country’s highest court.
Electoral reform campaign led to arrest
Lissu was arrested on April 9, 2025, in Mbinga, Ruvuma Region, shortly after addressing a political rally under CHADEMA’s “No Reforms, No Election” campaign.
Prosecutors accused him of making statements intended to mobilise the public to disrupt the October 2025 election and threaten the government.
His demands included independently appointed electoral commissioners, protection of opposition parties from police intimidation, allowing party agents to observe vote counting without harassment and permitting presidential election results to be challenged in court.
The case unfolded amid heightened political tensions ahead of the election, which President Samia Suluhu Hassan won with 98 per cent of the vote. Lissu was among opposition figures excluded from the presidential contest.
Ruling comes amid scrutiny of Tanzania’s politics
The election was followed by widespread protests and a security crackdown that left at least 500 people dead, according to an official inquiry. Opposition groups disputed the figure, claiming the death toll was higher.
Although the High Court acquitted him of treason, the four-year sentence means he remains in prison as he pursues an appeal.
