One of Tanzania’s opposition leaders, Tundu Lissu, announced that he would return from exile on January 25 to “write a new chapter”, daytime after the government announced the lifting of the prohibition gatherings that have hit the opposition since 2016.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced the end of the ban on opposition meetings imposed by her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli, who died in March 2021. This new signal of openness was welcomed by political parties and human rights organizations.
“We cannot continue to live in exile indefinitely,” Lissu said in a speech broadcast live on YouTube and relayed by local Tanzanian television.
“I am optimistic that we will write a new chapter this year (…) 2023 is an important year in the history of our country,” he added, concluding: “I am coming back for the new beginning of our nation”.
Mr. Lissu is vice president of Chadema, the main opposition party, which has announced that it will resume its demonstrations on January 21.
His last stay in Tanzania was at the end of 2020 when he was a presidential candidate against John Magufuli, who will die five months after his re-election.