Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was heading home from exile on Wednesday to “write a new chapter” following the president’s lifting of a ban on political assembly.
Lissu, who was shot 16 times in an assassination attempt in 2017 and has spent most of the years since in Belgium, will arrive on a flight from Brussels via Addis Ababa.
The 55-year-old said in a video posted on Twitter from Brussels airport that he will head to an opposition rally being held to welcome his arrival and discuss “our issues as Tanzanians”.
His decision follows President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s announcement this month that a ban on political rallies imposed by her hardline predecessor John Magufuli would be lifted, in an overture to the opposition.
“We cannot continue to endlessly live in exile,” Lissu said in a speech broadcast live on YouTube and carried on local channels in Tanzania on January 13 when he announced his plans to return.
“I am optimistic that we will write a new chapter this year… 2023 is an important year in the history of our country.”
Lissu opposition Chadema party on Saturday held its first mass rally since the lifting of the 2016 ban, led by its leader Freeman Mbowe in the lakeside city of Mwanza.
The government move was cautiously welcomed by rights groups and the opposition as a boost for democracy, with Hassan overturning some of the authoritarian policies imposed by Magufuli.
