Police in Tanzania have detained leading leaders of the main opposition Chadema party, and about a dozen others, ahead of a banned demonstration on Monday (September 23) called to protest alleged recent political abductions and killings.

Local media gave differing accounts of total the number of people detained and how many had since been released.

Chadema said on X (formerly Twitter) that those arrested include party chairman Freeman Mbobe and deputy chairman Tundu Lissu. Another deputy chairman, Tundu Lissu, posted separating that a convoy of police vehicles had surrounded his house and that he would be taken into custody.

Lissu returned home in January 2023 after over two years in exile, emboldened to do so because of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s decision to lift a ban on political rallies widely viewed as meant to weaken the opposition.

Critics expressed concern that the recent detentions are a sign that the East African country could be returning to the repressive rule of the late president John Magufuli.

The police action comes less than three weeks after the Suluhu vowed an investigation into the brutal killing of Ali Mohamed Kibao, a senior member of Chadema, whose lifeless body, Mbowe told journalists on September 8, showed signs he had been “severely beaten”, and had “acid poured on his face”.

Suluhu expressed deep sorrow over the incident and assured that her government would not tolerate such brutality, promising that a proper investigation would be done to find the killers of Kibao.

However, last week she cautioned against demonstrations and any related action, noting that the administration would not tolerate anything that would endanger law and order.

Police later declared the planned protests illegal, but Chadema had vowed to defy the ban. Over the past few days, anti-riot police have been patrolling the streets of Dar es Salaam to deter demonstrations.

On Monday, police also took into custody three journalists covering the protests, according to their employers, Mwananchi Communications Ltd and East Africa TV. 

Suluhu, who came to power in March 2021, lifted a ban on political rallies widely viewed as meant to weaken the opposition put in place by Magufuli, who had been accused of muzzling the news media, cracking down on the opposition and enacting laws aimed at keeping the governing party in power.

Rights campaigners say Suluhu's government is targeting opponents ahead of local elections in December and a national vote in 2025, Tanzania's first presidential election since the death of Magufuli.