Killing of Tanzania protesters 'a disgrace before God': archbishop
Africa
By
AFP
| Nov 10, 2025
Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa'ichi (C) leads a special mass organized to pray for victims of post-election violence following Tanzania's general elections at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Dar es Salaam on November 10, 2025. [AFP]
Hundreds gathered for a church service in Tanzania on Monday to pray for those killed by security forces during election violence, with the archbishop saying the country had "lost its dignity".
President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of the October 29 poll with 98 percent of the vote, but the election sparked widespread protests that were brutally suppressed by the security forces, which are accused of killing hundreds.
The government has yet to give an official death toll and Hassan has barely commented on the killings except to praise the work of the police.
Families of some of the victims gathered for a service at St Joseph Church in Dar es Salaam -- almost all too afraid to speak to the media for fear of reprisals by the security services.
READ MORE
SBM Bank Kenya bounces back with Sh283.4m profit
Lack of risk awareness blamed for business closures, unemployment surge
How AI is posing a challenge to authors, publishers
Why KRA is chasing importers and small businesses
While state agencies slept on the job, Kenya dipped into energy crisis
How Liquid Telecom lost Sh700,000 through a secret call recording
Bank opens its 25th branch in Kariobangi
CEOs alarmed by high poverty index among key consumers
"Our country has lost its dignity because of what transpired during the week of the general election," said Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa'ichi, leading the service.
Protesters were "recklessly killed", he said.
"The punishment for protesting is not death by gunfire. There are also those who were killed in their own homes -- they were pursued and murdered right inside their houses," he said.
"Such acts... are a disgrace before God," he added.
Opposition parties and activists have described security forces indiscriminately shooting protesters and bystanders dead in many parts of the country during several days of unrest during and after the election.
The government imposed a total internet blackout and strict lockdown, making it difficult to verify information.
Hundreds have since been arrested and charged with treason, which carries the death penalty.
'Totalitarian regime'
One woman told AFP that her husband was killed in Dar es Salaam on election day, while she was out of town, and she still could not find his body.
He had gone out to get food for the children when he was shot in the stomach.
"Some neighbours witnessed the moment... but unfortunately they could do nothing," she said.
"We have searched for his body in different hospitals and mortuaries in vain," she added, urging the government to release the bodies of the victims.
The protesters were angry over a spate of violent abductions targeting critics that increased significantly in the run-up to the election, as well as the fact that the main opposition leaders were barred from running.
African Union observers said the vote "did not comply with... standards for democratic elections", with signs of "ballot-stuffing" and "limited transparency.
"For the first time in our country, we are experiencing the mass killing of people protesting," Father Charles Kitima, secretary of Tanzania's Catholic Bishops Conference, told AFP last week.
"We are experiencing a totalitarian regime," he said.