The Police, on Monday, in Tanzania detained opposition leaders and rounded up several hundred supporters as they halted a planned rally.
Reports say authorities have detained former presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu.
At least 500 youth supporters were making their way to the event at the time of arrest.
Leaders of the opposition Chadema party, including Lissu, were arrested in the southwestern city of Mbeya, a party official announced on X.
The Police had previously banned the rally, claiming that violence was planned.
The Tanzanian police action comes amid a wave of protests that has swept other parts of sub-Saharan Africa in recent weeks, including nearby Kenya and Uganda.
Chadema’s director of communications and foreign affairs, John Mrema, said that the arrests were made as the party was due to hold a rally to mark International Youth Day.
“Breaking news! The Mbeya Police have arrested all the leaders who were in the offices of Chadema in the Nyassa region.
“They include Tundu Lissu, John Mnyika, Joseph Mbilinyi and the leaders of the Youth Council and those of the party,” he wrote.
Chadema leader Freeman Mbowe said he “strongly” condemned the arrests of his deputy Lissu and other youth leaders, and called for their “immediate and unconditional release”.
Tanzania is due to hold presidential and parliamentary polls in 2025.
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Critics say that the arrests of opposition figures are further evidence supporting their claims that democratic progress is stalling.
In recent months, the opposition has been staging protests calling on the government to withdraw controversial bills.
They also want the government to address soaring living costs, and ensure independent oversight of the electoral process.
The police had announced on Sunday a ban on the Chadema youth gathering, accusing the party of planning violent demonstrations.
The youth wing had said about 10,000 youngsters were expected to meet in Mbeya.
Chadema officials had denounced the ban and called on President Samia Suluhu Hassan to intervene.
Since 2021, after the sudden death of President John Magufuli, Hassan has moved away from her predecessor’s hardline policies. She embarked on political reforms.
In January 2023, she lifted a ban on opposition rallies imposed in 2016 by Magufuli.
The move was in an overture to political rivals seeking the restoration of democratic traditions.
Lissu returned to Tanzania soon after Hassan lifted the ban. He had spent five years in exile following a 2017 assassination bid.
Mbowe was freed from prison in March 2022, about seven months after he and other Chadema leaders had been arrested ahead of a planned public forum to demand constitutional reform. (Al-Jazeera)
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