Tanzania’s 2025 Post Electoral Violence

News:

On Monday, 03/11/2025, Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn as the President of the United Republic of Tanzania for a second term. A poll that swept over with violence for several days from October 29, 2025 caused devastated loss in terms of lives, properties and public infrastructures. (DW)

Comment:

This is not the first time Tanzania to experience electoral violence since introduction of multipartism 1995. As violence has been part of every general elections, among the worst one was 2000 in Zanzibar whereby 35 people were killed, 600 injured and about 2000 freed to Kenya according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Violence in democratic elections worldwide are common occurrences. For instance, December 2007 to February 2008 in Kenya over 1,200 people were killed and as many as 350,000 displaced, Côte d’Ivoire’s 2010 in which an estimated 3,000 people were killed, Senegal in 2012 in which as many as 15 fatalities and the ongoing Mozambique’s 2024 violence where more than 50 people have been killed, to mention a few.

Global reports estimate election violence occurs in approximately 19% of the world and in about 58% of elections in Africa! We have witnessed this even in countries considered champions of democracy like the United States in their 2020 election where after Trump's (first) defeat, in the following year on January 6, his supporters' mobs created havoc at the United States Congress building (Capitol Hill) with several reported deaths.

The main cause of violence in democratic elections which is ruling system of capitalism, came from the nature of capitalist ideology itself.

Capitalist ideology sprouted from weak, fragile and non-sensical creed of secularism which is devoid of spiritual values focusing solely on interest as its criteria of all actions. In this case, violence is imminent to occur since democratic adherents are ready to engage in anything for the sake of achieving benefits.

Not to mention that capitalism adopting Machiavellian strategy of utilizing any means such as lying, killing, causing discord among the people, vandalize public and private properties etc. to reach required goal.

Also, Western nations who introduced multiparty democracy deceived people, showing them that is ‘second liberation’ which is as an open false.

False Slogan of ‘second liberation’ via multiparty democracy is similar to the ‘independence’ slogan. Both meant to distract and deceive people especially of developing nations from seeking and fighting for true and radical solution of uprooting capitalism, which is the source of all destructions in these particular nations.

Slogan of ‘Independence’ in 1950-60’s aimed to change style of old colonialism to neocolonialism through indigenous agents in the name of granting independence. After years of flag independence, people came to realize that there is no change as expected, and they were fed up with western brutal autocratic agents ruling via single party, Western nations cunningly introduced multiparty democracy to falsely pacify them. In multiparty people have been brainwashed to believe that changing of face would bring changes to country.

How change would come over without radically ideological change from capitalist ideology which still controls every aspect of developing world, and working day and night exploiting our resources by any means even causing civil discord, division, war to achieve their colonial agenda. Such as we are witnessing in Congo, Mozambique, etc.

Furthermore, post-election violence in Tanzania and elsewhere has not only exposed democracy as system of havoc and anarchy, but also revealed the myth of the western war on terror propaganda which has been blindly targeting Muslims and Islam worldwide of violence, while shamelessly democratic supporters and activists openly support and some engaging in such brutal violence.

In conclusion, Tanzania, developing nations and humanity as whole would never have peace and tranquility under corrupt democratic system. Instead humanity needs radical change from ideology of Islam which has ruled over people in centuries in just and fair dealings for all.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Said Bitomwa
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Tanzania