World

Tanzania Opposition Leader Lissu Ends Hunger Strike After Lawyer Meeting

By AP and Reuters

Tanzania opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who faces a treason charge that could carry a death sentence, ended a brief hunger strike after prison officials allowed him to meet privately with his lawyers. Lissu, the head of the Party for Democracy and Progress (CHADEMA) and runner‑up in the 2020 presidential election, began refusing food on Monday after his lawyers were denied entry to the prison where he is being held, according to party spokesperson Brenda Rupia on X. His lawyer, Rugemeleza Nshala, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Lissu had not taken tea, breakfast or lunch and that he ended the strike after lunchtime following a meeting with his brother. The detention of Lissu, along with reported abductions of government critics, has drawn scrutiny of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s human‑rights record. The government has denied widespread abuses and said it is committed to respecting human rights, and it ordered an investigation into 2024 abduction reports, though no official findings have been released. Accounts of the protest differ: Rupia said the strike began on Monday, while Nshala said it started on Tuesday morning after promised private consultations failed to occur. Tanzania’s prisons service denied the reports, telling the Swahili‑language daily Mwananchi that Lissu was safe and not on hunger strike. Nshala had expressed concerns about Lissu’s health, noting he relies on medication. Lissu survived a 2017 assassination attempt in which he was shot 16 times. He was arrested in April 2025 after addressing a rally calling for electoral reforms and was charged with treason over a speech prosecutors said urged the public to rebel and disrupt last year’s general election. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers say the charges are politically motivated. A judgment is due on November 6. On Tuesday, CHADEMA announced seven days of mourning, from Thursday to November 4, to mark the anniversary of the October 29 election. A government‑appointed inquiry found that at least 518 people were killed in the violence that followed the vote, while CHADEMA estimates the death toll at about 2,000, a figure the United Nations said it could not verify.