Tanzania opposition leader Tundu Lissu acquitted of treason but found guilty of incitement

Tanzania's main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, has been found guilty of incitement in a case that has raised concerns about political freedoms in the East African country.

The 58-year-old, who has been detained since April last year, was convicted over remarks he made while campaigning for electoral reforms ahead of the disputed 2025 general election.

A panel of three judges at the High Court in Dar es Salaam acquitted him of the more serious charge of treason. Treason is among Tanzania's most serious offences and can carry the death penalty.

Lissu leads the opposition Chadema party. He has consistently denied the charges, describing the prosecution as politically motivated. He has leave to appeal at the Court of Appeal, the country's highest court.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the October 2025 election with 98% of the vote. 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.

Lissu was arrested six months before the poll, shortly after launching a campaign demanding changes to the electoral system under the slogan 'No Reforms, No Election'.

Prosecutors accused him of making statements intended to incite the public to disrupt the election and threaten the government, arguing that his remarks, which were also circulated online, amounted to treason.

Lissu, a lawyer who represented himself during the trial, maintained that his comments were part of a legitimate political campaign for constitutional and electoral reform. He argued prosecutors had taken his statements out of context and failed to prove he had committed any crime.

His demands included electoral commissioners being independently appointed rather than by the president, police allowing all parties to campaign free of intimidation, government-appointed district chiefs no longer acting as returning officers, party agents being able to observe counting without harassment, and presidential election results being open to challenge in court.

During his time in remand custody at Dar es Salaam's Ukonga Prison, Lissu went on hunger strike twice for brief periods when, he said, he was not allowed certain access.