Tinotenda Hove – Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on Monday issued a blistering statement condemning Tanzania’s recently concluded general election, describing it as “discredited, disputed, and deeply undemocratic,” while accusing African regional bodies of turning a blind eye to electoral abuses across the continent.

In a detailed 15-point statement titled “Democracy Under Siege in Africa,” Chamisa said the violence, intimidation, and manipulation that surrounded Tanzania’s October 28, 2025, polls represented what he called “an encyclopedic record of electoral malpractice.”

“We condemn the excessive use of force against citizens, the killings and abductions of opposition figures, and the incarceration of credible candidates,” Chamisa said. “These actions represent a complete erosion of democratic values.”

Tanzania’s election pitted President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) against opposition leader Tundu Lissu of CHADEMA. The National Electoral Commission declared Hassan the winner with more than 80% of the vote — a result immediately rejected by the opposition as “a complete fraud.” Reports from civil society and international observers cited widespread voter intimidation, internet shutdowns, ballot tampering, and the arrest of opposition activists.

Chamisa linked the Tanzanian election controversy to what he called a broader regional pattern of “democratic decay,” warning that Southern Africa was experiencing “a rising tide of electoral manipulation and authoritarian consolidation.”

“We are witnessing a continental crisis of legitimacy — where elections are no longer instruments of democracy, but rituals of endorsement for those already in power,” he said.

The opposition leader pointed to similar patterns in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, saying African elections were increasingly marked by “the disqualification of credible candidates, tampering with voter rolls, and the silencing of dissent through intimidation, abductions, and violence.”

Chamisa also took aim at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU), accusing them of failing to confront member states that rig elections or suppress opposition voices.

“SADC’s ineffectiveness has been brought under the spotlight and found wanting,” he said, adding that the bloc’s credibility was “severely compromised” when chaired by Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa — whose own 2023 re-election was condemned by the SADC Election Observer Mission as falling short of democratic standards.

Turning to the African Union, Chamisa accused the continental body of moral abdication. “The African Union has been an absent guardian, a missing guard rail. Instead of protecting African people, it now rubber-stamps tyranny,” he said.

Chamisa concluded his Monday statement by urging the East African Community (EAC) to intervene and calling for the immediate release of detained Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu and his colleagues.

“The people of Africa deserve leaders chosen freely — not through fear, fraud, and force,” Chamisa said. “Our continent’s future depends on restoring the integrity of the ballot and the sanctity of the people’s voice.”