Tough-Talking Tanzania Leader Blames Protests on Foreign Powers

    Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan accused foreign powers of a colonial attitude for condemning deadly violence that marred her re-election.

    The United Nations has called for an investigation, saying hundreds of people may have been killed by security forces firing on protesters.

    Hassan defended the use of force, saying security forces were ready to tackle any fresh demonstrations planned to coincide with the nation’s Independence Day on Dec. 9.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan accused foreign powers of a colonial attitude for condemning deadly violence that marred her re-election in October.

The United Nations has called for an investigation, saying hundreds of people may have been killed by security forces firing on protesters. Two influential US senators have also said results that showed Hassan winning 98% of the votes cast were “less than credible,” while members of the European parliament want to block aid to the East African nation.

“Do they still think they are our masters, our colonizers?” Hassan said in televised address on Tuesday, December 2 without mentioning any nations. “Is it because of the little money that they give us, which isn’t even there anymore?”

The International Criminal Court in the Hague has been urged to investigate the alleged mass killings, while the opposition Chadema party has claimed that the number of deaths from the clashes surpass 1,000 people, with bodies hidden in mass graves.

Police and government spokespeople haven’t answered calls seeking comment.

Hassan, who won the Oct. 29 election after her main challengers were jailed or otherwise excluded from running, defended the use of force.

“When they tell us that we used excessive force, what is reasonable force? Did they want us to just watch the violence until they fulfilled their goal of a revolution and overthrow the government from power?” she said from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

Security forces were ready to tackle any fresh demonstrations planned to coincide with the nation’s independence day on Dec. 9, she warned.

Critics of Hassan, who took over when strongman John Magufuli died in office in 2021, accuse her of being ruthless with opponents after initial promises of reform and political reconciliation.

Even before the election, human rights watchdogs including Amnesty International warned authorities had intensified repression to silence dissent before the vote.

In her remarks on Tuesday, December 2, Hassan suggested that she wouldn’t bow to pressure from western nations to release opposition firebrand Tundu Lissu, who’s been in detention since April on treason charges.

“You can give instructions to a student government, but not the government of a sovereign state,” she said.

Bloomberg