The Tanzanian authorities have arrested Amani Golugwa, a top opposition official, as he prepared to travel to Belgium for a political meeting, his party reported on Tuesday.
The event has raised new concerns about a possible crackdown on dissent ahead of the country’s October elections.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is running for re-election, has often stated that her administration is committed to safeguarding human rights. However, a recent spate of high-profile arrests has heightened scrutiny of her record.
Golugwa, a senior member of Tanzania’s main opposition CHADEMA party, was arrested at Julius Nyerere International Airport in the capital Dar es Salaam on Monday, his party wrote on X.
Tanzanian police confirmed his arrest in a post on their Instagram account, stating that Golugwa “has a trend of leaving and returning to the country without following legal procedures.”
Golugwa had been due to represent his party in Brussels at a forum organised by the International Democracy Union, a grouping of centre-right parties that CHADEMA belongs to and which also counts the British Conservatives and U.S. Republicans as members.
Police arrested Tundu Lissu, CHADEMA’s leader and Tanzania’s main opposition figure, last month.
Lissu, who was shot 16 times in a 2017 attack and came second in the last presidential poll, was subsequently charged with treason over what prosecutors said was a speech calling upon the public to rebel and disrupt the elections.
He had held several rallies in early April under the slogan “No Reforms, No Election”, where CHADEMA demanded significant changes to an electoral process they say favours the ruling party.
