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Chadema said the police detained nine party members and raided Musoma’s office to stop the planned constitutional reform seminar.
Tanzanian police arrested several members of the country’s main opposition party, the Chadma Party, in the latest crackdown on groups pushing for the country’s constitutional reforms.
Earlier, Chadma leader Freeman Mbowi was detained on charges of “terrorism”, and his party advertised the government of President Samia Suruhu Hassan as suppressing the opposition.
In a statement on Saturday, Chadema said that the police detained nine party members and raided his office in the northern lakeside town of Musoma to prevent a seminar on constitutional reform planned by the youth group.
“We strongly condemn this flagrant violation of the Constitution and the rule of law, sowing the seeds of hatred, discrimination and discord in the community,” it added, protesting against the “suppression of democratic rights” by the police and other security forces.
Freeman Mbowe arrived at the Kisutu District Court in Dar es Salaam on August 6 [File: AFP]Mbowe has been in custody since he was arrested along with some other senior Chadema officials on July 21, when they will hold a similar forum calling for a new constitution.
The opposition claimed that 59-year-old Hassan was accused of financing terrorism and conspiracy, which shows that Hassan is continuing the oppressive rule of her late predecessor, John Magufuli.
He will appear again in the High Court on Monday, although his trial was put on hold due to a legal dispute, and his defense team recently questioned the legality of the accusation form.
Speaking of Saturday’s arrests, the Mara district police chief Langinus Tibihibwam, with Musoma as the capital, said that the force cannot allow such incidents to occur.
“The President has instructed people to focus on economic development now…so such meetings will have to wait,” local media quoted Tibishibwamu as saying.
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