Police and soldiers deployed in force in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, on Tuesday to prevent protests that activists had called for to denounce the violent suppression of demonstrations around elections in October.
The streets of Dar es Salaam were largely deserted, a Reuters witness said, following warnings by the government that any protests on Tuesday, the anniversary of mainland Tanzania’s independence from Britain in 1961, would amount to a coup attempt.
Presidential and parliamentary elections on October 29 triggered the worst political violence in Tanzania’s post-independence history. The U.N. has estimated that hundreds were killed.
Security officers in Dar es Salaam were carrying out ID checks on anyone seeking to move around the city and shops in the Central Business District were closed.
RESIDENTS FEARED FRESH VIOLENCE
Hamad Ali said the commuter bus he works on collecting fares was not running for fear of violence.
“I know we are highly needed as an essential service and we need money, but we cannot risk going out,” he told Reuters.
Some activists said there were small protests in parts of Dar es Salaam and the northern city of Mwanza, but it was not possible to independently confirm this.
Police spokesperson David Misime said the security situation across the country was calm and that images on social media purporting to show demonstrations on Tuesday were actually from earlier protests.
“We continue urging Tanzanians to disregard such images because they are intended to trick them into thinking there are protests happening,” he said in a statement.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan won a new term in the election with nearly 98% of the vote after leading opposition candidates were barred from running.
She appointed a commission last month to investigate election-related violence but has repeatedly denied that security forces acted improperly.
U.N. human rights experts said last week that at least 700 people were estimated to have been extrajudicially killed in the violence.
The government has acknowledged that people died but has not provided its own death toll.
The United States said last week it was reviewing its relationship with Tanzania over concerns about violence against civilians as well as religious freedom, free speech and barriers to investment.
(Reuters)
