In East Africa, politicians and civil society members are increasingly alarmed by political arrests, as opposition figure Tundu Lissu remains imprisoned in Tanzania, facing the death penalty in a trial that continues to be repeatedly postponed. In this week's Spotlight on Africa podcast, we hear from Robert Amsterdam, legal counsel to Lissu and other prominent figures. We also look at the first commemoration of the genocide perpetrated by German colonial rulers over a century ago in Namibia.
Tundu Lissu is the leader of Tanzania’s main opposition Party for Democracy and Progress (Chadema). He was arrested on 9 April.
Treason charges were brought against him on 10 April, and he could receive the death penalty.
Amnesty International’s regional director for east and southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, reacted by saying that the Tanzanian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Tundu Lissu, whose arbitrary arrest and detention comes amid a growing crackdown on opposition leaders ahead of the October 2025 general election.
He added, “The authorities’ campaign of repression saw four government critics forcibly disappeared and one unlawfully killed in 2024. The police have also prevented opposition members from holding meetings and other political gatherings, subjecting them to mass arrest, arbitrary detention, and unlawful use of force."
Tanzanian politician's lawyers ask UN to declare his detention arbitrary
However, the opposition leader has not been released, nor have the charges been dropped. On the contrary, other members of his party have since been arrested and even subjected to torture.
Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire were detained in Tanzania’s economic capital, Dar es Salaam, between 19 and 23 May, after attempting to attend the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
The crisis extends beyond Tanzania to neighbouring Uganda and Kenya, where activists from a rights coalition in Kenya also accused police officers of sexually torturing Kenyan and Ugandan activists last month.
In this context, this week on Spotlight on Africa, RFI speaks to Tundu Lissu’s international lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, who has lodged a complaint with the UN Working Group as part of a broader campaign of pressure.
This month, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Lissu’s arrest as politically motivated. Amsterdam also stated that he intends to petition the US State Department to impose sanctions.
Meanwhile, in Namibia, the first national commemoration was held on 28 May for the victims of mass killings by colonial-era German troops, in what is widely recognised as the first genocide of the 20th century.
When first the Herero and then the Nama revolted against the colonial administration, the response from Germany was brutal. An extermination order was sent by the Second Reich, and several concentration camps were built across the country.
Namibia holds controversial first commemoration of German colonial-era genocide
Some organisations representing victims' descendants have declined to take part.
To discuss what is at stake with this commemoration, for Namibia but also for other former African colonies, we talk to the German historian Henning Melber, of the Nordic Africa Institute, who is also affiliated to the University of Pretoria and the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein in South Africa.
He says that while the announcement of an official Namibian Genocide Memorial Day has been long overdue, the chosen date of 28 May remains controversial, and that communities of descendants were excluded.
Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.
Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.
