Tanzania: CHADEMA leader to be laid to rest amid concerns over opposition party activists' safety

By Lulu Angelo Sanga

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AA) – Ali Mohamed Kibao, former leader of Tanzania's main opposition CHADEMA party, will be laid to rest on Monday in the Tanga region, after his mutilated body was discovered and dumped in Dar es Salaam the day before.

The brutal killing has sent shockwaves across the country, with various institutions and notables expressing their outrage and demanding justice.

In response to the incident, President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Sunday ordered a thorough and urgent investigation, stating on her official X account, "I have ordered the investigation agencies to bring me detailed information about this terrible incident and others like this as soon as possible. Our country is democratic, and every citizen has the right to live. The government I lead does not tolerate such cruel acts."

The killing of Kibao has heightened tensions and uncertainty in Tanzania, particularly since three CHADEMA activists are still missing.

While briefing journalists on Kibao's disappearance on Saturday, the party's Secretary General John Mnyika claimed that he was taken away by some individuals believed to be police officers in the Tegeta area after two police cars stopped the bus he was riding from Dar es Salaam to Tanga.

On Sunday, the CHADEMA party announced that Kibao's body had been severely beaten and had acid poured over it, making him difficult to identify.

Later that day, the police issued a statement confirming Kibao's death and intensified their investigation by enlisting experts from the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) office, with autopsy results expected on Monday.

The statement, however, denied the party's secretary general's claim that the people who took Kibao out of the bus in handcuffs were police officers and urged anyone with more information to come forward.

The murder of Kibao adds to growing concerns over a recent surge in kidnappings of three CHADEMA members on Aug. 18, as well as violence in Tanzania, raising concerns about the safety of opposition figures and activists.