Tanzania's main opposition party Chadema on Sunday rejected President Samia Suluhu Hassan's landslide victory in elections that triggered deadly protests across the country over the exclusion of her key challengers from the vote.
Hassan's Chama Cha Mapinduzi party swept to power with nearly 98 percent of Wednesday's poll, according to the electoral commission.
Chadema, which was barred from the election for refusing to sign a code of conduct and whose leader Tundu Lissu was arrested for treason in April, said that the results were false.
It added on social media: "Chadema strongly rejects the so-called election results announced by the National Electoral Commission. These results have no basis in reality, as the truth is that no genuine election took place in Tanzania.
"The countrywide demonstrations are clear proof that citizens did not take part in what is being called an election, and that they reject anyone emerging from this flawed electoral process," the statement added.
Hassan, who took power in 2021, appeared at an event in the administrative capital, Dodoma on Saturday to receive the winner's certificate from electoral authorities.
The 65-year-old hailed Tanzanians for voting overwhelmingly for a female leader and added: "Now the election is over, it's time to unite our country and not destroy what we've built over more than six decades.”
“We will take all actions and involve all security agencies to ensure the country is peaceful.”
Chadema says hundreds of people have been killed by security forces since protests broke out on election day.
Tension high in Tanzania ahead of opposition leader's 'treason' trial
Despite a heavy security presence, polling day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down posters of Hassan and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.
A Chadema spokesman told the French news agency AFP on Friday that "around 700" people had been killed, based on figures gathered from a network checking hospitals and health clinics.
A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told AFP that deaths were "in the hundreds". The government has disputed the figures.
Hassan rose to the top job from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.
Her government denies using "excessive force" but has blocked the internet and imposed a tight lockdown and curfew nationwide.
News websites have not been updated since Wednesday and journalists are not allowed to operate freely in the country.
UN chief Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" about the situation in Tanzania, "including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations", his spokesman said in a statement.
Much public anger has been directed at Hassan's son, Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir, accused of overseeing the crackdown.
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There have been unconfirmed reports of the army siding with protesters in some places. But army chief Jacob Mkunda came out strongly on Hassan's side on Thursday, calling the protesters "criminals".
Hassan's victory is likely to amplify the concerns of opposition groups and others who said the election in Tanzania was not a contest but a coronation.
Lissu, before he was jailed, called for electoral reforms that he said were a prerequisite for free and fair elections. Another opposition figure, Luhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wazalendo group, was barred from running.
A spokesman for the UN human rights office, Seif Magango, on Friday told a UN briefing in Geneva by video from Kenya that credible reports of 10 deaths were reported in Dar es Salaam, alongside Shinyanga and Morogoro towns.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday he was concerned by the situation in Tanzania and urged all parties to prevent further escalation.
Hassan oversaw "an unprecedented crackdown on political opponents,” the International Crisis Group said in its most recent analysis.
“The government has curbed freedom of expression, ranging from a ban on X and restrictions on the Tanzanian digital platform JamiiForums to silencing critical voices through intimidation or arrest.”
(With newswires)
