A member of the Tanzanian opposition party Chadema was found dead after being abducted, beaten, and attacked with acid, according to party leader Freeman Mbowe on Sunday.
Ali Mohamed Kibao, a member of Chadema’s national secretariat, was forcibly removed from a bus at gunpoint on Friday by suspected security agents while traveling from Dar es Salaam to the northern port city of Tanga, party officials reported. His body was discovered in the Ununio waterfront district of Dar es Salaam on Saturday night.
This tragic event follows a recent incident where Mbowe, his deputy Tundu Lissu, and other Chadema leaders were briefly detained in a mass roundup before a planned youth event.
“The postmortem, witnessed by Chadema lawyers, clearly shows that Kibao was brutally beaten and had acid poured on his face,” Mbowe told reporters. “We cannot allow our people to continue disappearing or being killed like this. The lives of Chadema leaders are currently at risk.”
Mbowe also mentioned that several other party officials have gone missing, though he did not provide further details.
Kibao, a retired military intelligence officer, had previously worked with other opposition parties and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) before joining Chadema, according to Mbowe, who did not specify the timeframe.
Police have not yet commented on Kibao’s death, although police spokesman David Misime mentioned on Saturday that an investigation into the reported abduction has begun.
Rights groups and government critics fear that the recent crackdown on the opposition may signal a return to the repressive policies of Tanzania’s late president John Magufuli. This comes despite President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s pledge to restore “competitive politics” and ease restrictions on the opposition and media, including lifting a six-year ban on opposition gatherings.
Amnesty International has described the mass arrests in August as a “deeply worrying sign” in the lead-up to local government elections in December 2024 and the general elections scheduled for late next year.
Mbowe was previously arrested in July 2021 before a party meeting aimed at demanding constitutional reforms. He was released in March 2022 after prosecutors dropped terrorism charges against him.
Tundu Lissu, who ran for president in 2020, has faced multiple arrests and survived an assassination attempt in 2017. He returned to Tanzania in 2023 after living in exile for over five years, following Hassan’s decision to lift the ban on opposition activities.
