Tanzania Election Violence Report Sparks Political Storm Over Blame, Accountability

A government-appointed commission of inquiry has confirmed that at least 518 people were killed in violence that broke out during Tanzania's elections last October, marking the first ‌official acknowledgment of the scale of the deadly unrest.

The commission, however, placed responsibility for the violence on protesters, a conclusion that immediately triggered political backlash and accusations of bias from opposition groups and human rights observers.

The findings contrast earlier estimates by the U.N. human rights office, which said hundreds were killed following the exclusion of leading opposition candidates from presidential and parliamentary elections. The main opposition party has maintained that the death toll could be in the thousands.

Tanzanian authorities had previously declined to provide official casualty figures, ⁠saying they were awaiting the commission’s report, which was appointed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in November. The government has consistently denied claims by human rights organisations that security forces used excessive force during the unrest.

Speaking during the handover of the report, commission chair Mohamed Chande Othman said the fatalities could be higher than recorded due to challenges in identifying victims. He avoided assigning direct responsibility to law enforcement and instead recommended the formation of a separate criminal investigation body to examine specific incidents.

Chande further stated that the commission had “indisputable evidence” that the violence was organised and funded by “trained people,” although no names were disclosed.

“Organisers used various techniques, including using people without deep understanding and desperate youth, while ‌encouraging ⁠simultaneous acts of violence across different locations," he said.

President Hassan, who won the disputed election with nearly 98% of the vote, has maintained that the protests were an attempted coup supported by foreign interests, though no evidence has been provided publicly.

The commission’s report has not yet been fully released, with Hassan describing it as “the property of the president,” raising concerns over transparency and public access to its findings.

The main opposition party, CHADEMA, rejected the findings outright, arguing that a government accused of abuses cannot credibly investigate itself.

Further controversy surrounds allegations documented in the report process, including claims that people were shot in homes and shops, particularly in Mwanza. Reuters reporting also found that police officers killed more than a dozen unarmed young men at a cafe far from any protest activity, alongside other reported shootings in multiple cities.

The government has defended its security response, saying that many allegations were based on unverified and out-of-context information, and insisting that it acted within the law during the unrest.