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Agence France-Presse

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan played down days of bloody protest as she was inaugurated on Monday, despite the opposition warning that hundreds were killed.
The electoral commission said Hassan won 98 per cent of the vote.
The main opposition party, Chadema, which was barred from running, has rejected the results. It has called for fresh elections, saying last Wednesday’s vote was a “sham”.
In her speech, Hassan called for “unity and solidarity” but also alleged that some of the young protesters came from “outside Tanzania”.
“Our defence and security agencies continue to investigate and examine in detail what happened,” she said, promising a return to normality as she addressed officials and foreign dignitaries in the capital Dodoma.

The ceremony was held in State House without the public, rather than in a stadium as usual.
A total internet blackout was in place since protests broke out on election day until late on Monday, meaning only a trickle of verifiable information had been getting out of the east African country.
A diplomatic source said there were credible reports of hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of deaths registered at hospitals and health clinics around Tanzania.
Chadema told Agence France-Presse it had recorded “no less than 800” deaths by Saturday but none of the figures could be independently verified.
The government has not commented on any deaths, except to reject accusations that “excessive force” was used.
Schools and colleges remained closed on Monday, with public transport halted and reports of some church services not taking place on Sunday.

The diplomatic source said there were “concerning reports” that the police were using the internet blackout to buy time as they “hunt down opposition members and protesters who might have videos” of atrocities committed last week.
Cybersecurity watchdog Netblocks said internet had returned to the country in part on Monday, though significant restrictions on social media remained in place.
An Agence France-Presse journalist confirmed the return of an intermittent internet connection.
Dar es Salaam and other cities were much calmer over the weekend as a near-total lockdown was in place but prices were soaring for basic goods.
An Agence France-Presse reporter said police were stopping almost everyone who moved around the city, checking IDs and bags, and allowing shops to open only in the afternoon.
Journalists on the island of Zanzibar, which has greater political freedom and had few protests, saw masked armed men patrolling without visible insignia or identification in the days after the election.

A rights group in neighbouring Kenya presented footage on Sunday that it said was gathered from inside Tanzania, including images of dead bodies piled up in the street.
The images could not be independently verified. The police have circulated a text message threatening to punish anyone spreading footage that could create panic or humiliate people online.
Pope Leo on Sunday called for prayers for Tanzania where he said post-election violence had erupted “with numerous victims”.
“I urge everyone to avoid all forms of violence and to pursue the path of dialogue,” the pope said.
Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021 and wanted an emphatic victory to cement her place and silence critics within the ruling party, analysts say.
Rights group Amnesty International described a “wave of terror” ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions.
Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as large crowds tore down Hassan’s posters and attacked police and polling stations.
Polling stations had been largely empty before the violence broke out, Agence France-Presse journalists and observers saw, though the electoral commission later claimed turnout was 87 per cent.
“In some polling stations, they [police] were more than the number of voters,” an initial report by Southern African Development Community observers said on Monday.
They reported censorship and exclusion of the opposition ahead of the vote and said their “tentative conclusion” was that Tanzanians “could not express their democratic will”.


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Tanzania

Tanzania’s president sworn in as opposition says hundreds killed in protests

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan holds a spear and a shield during her swearing-in ceremony in Dodoma, Tanzania on Monday. Photo: Tanzania Presidential Press Unit via Reuters

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan inspects a guard of honour during her swearing-in ceremony. Photo: Tanzania Presidential Press Unit via Reuters

A Tanzanian riot police officer throws a used teargas canister near a vandalised campaign poster of President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Photo: Reuters

Masked armed men in the back of a truck in Stone Town, Zanzibar on October 30. Photo: AFP

Tanzania’s president wins in landslide amid protests, opposition crackdown

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan casts her vote during the general elections on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Tanzanian polling station officials spread the ballots at the beginning of the counting operations on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

People protest in the streets of Arusha, Tanzania, on Wednesday. Photo: AP

US seeks truce in Sudan as ICC probes possible war crimes in El-Fasher

Displaced children from El-Fasher at a camp in Tawila, Darfur region, Sudan. Photo: Norwegian Refugee Council via AP

Displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher at a camp on the southwestern edge of Tawila, in war-torn Sudan’s western Darfur region. Photo: AFP

Rapid Support Forces fighters celebrating in the streets of El-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur. Photo: Rapid Support Forces via AFP

Cameroon court declares Paul Biya, world’s oldest president, winner of latest election

Protesters run after Cameroonian police officers disperse them in Garoua on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Cameroonian President Paul Biya, 92, who has won an eighth term in an election seen as rigged by many. Photo: Reuters

A supporter of Cameroon’s presidential opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary shows a campaign sticker in Yaoundé on October 9, ahead of the election. Photo: Reuters

Members of Cameroon’s Constitutional Council read out the election results on Monday. Photo: AFP

‘Hundreds dead’ in Tanzania post-election violence, opposition says

Tanzanian riot police officers use tear gas to disperse demonstrators at the Namanga One-Post Border crossing point between Kenya and Tanzania on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Tanzanian riot police officers walk past a vandalised campaign poster depicting President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Residents hold rubber bullets and used tear gas canisters, following a protest at the Namanga One-Post Border crossing point between Kenya and Tanzania on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

A Tanzanian police officer tears down a voting station poster before the beginning of the counting operations in Stone Town on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

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World

Africa

Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan blames foreigners for deadly protests after the recent disputed election


Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan blames foreigners for deadly protests after the recent disputed election.


Tanzania’s president sworn in as opposition says hundreds killed in protests

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan blames foreigners for deadly protests after the recent disputed election

Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan blames foreigners for deadly protests after the recent disputed election