President Hassan Declared Victor in Tanzania's Presidential Election Amid Violent Unrest

By Martin Foskett | Newswire | Knelstrom Media

​DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA. The results are officially in. After several days of tense anticipation, Tanzania's National Electoral Commission has declared President Samia Suluhu Hassan the winner of this week's presidential election. This vote has left the country both subdued and shaken.

​According to the commission's certified figures, President Hassan secured 97.66% of the national vote. The commission described the figure as "final and conclusive." Her re-election grants her another term at the helm of East Africa's most stable economy. It confirms her dominance over the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which she has led since 2021.

On election day, protests erupted in several regions as groups of demonstrators stormed polling stations, tearing up ballot papers and scattering debris across the floors of school halls turned voting centres. In Mwanza, a police station was reportedly set ablaze. In Dar es Salaam, campaign banners bearing the president's image were pulled down and tossed into the street. Security forces were deployed nationwide, and by evening the government had imposed a nationwide curfew "to restore order."

Witnesses described the air thick with tear gas and the sound of helicopters circling overhead. The following morning, the streets lay eerily quiet, broken ballot boxes in the gutters, smoke drifting from the outskirts, and posters curling in the damp heat.

Despite the unrest, the commission proceeded with its formal announcement. From its headquarters in Dar es Salaam, the chairman read out the final count beneath the green-and-gold flag, flanked by officials in crisp uniforms. "The process is complete," he declared, his tone calm and final. Applause followed, brief, perfunctory, and oddly detached, before the cameras cut away.

The result delivers what the commission called "an overwhelming mandate." For President Hassan, it secures another term and reasserts her control over both the state and the party. Supporters cite her record of economic stability and social calm; critics question whether such a margin can coexist with the protests that flared around it.

Opposition leaders from CHADEMA claim hundreds were killed in the three days following the vote, alleging that security forces used live ammunition to disperse crowds. The United Nations human rights office has said it has received "credible reports" of at least ten deaths in three cities. The government disputes those figures, describing the unrest as "isolated incidents" and insisting stability has now been restored. Independent verification remains challenging due to communications blackouts and restricted regional access.

As night falls across the country, uncertainty deepens. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan's whereabouts remain unknown as protesters march toward the State House amid a nationwide communication blackout. Major cities, including Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Arusha, and Mwanza, face ongoing demonstrations over the disputed election results. The opposition continues to call for transparency and accountability, while state media remain largely silent.

Observers from neighbouring states characterised the vote as peaceful in its formal execution but clouded by the absence of viable opposition candidates. Some international analysts described the contest as "orderly without being open."

As curfews stretch into their second week, the capital struggles between composure and confusion. The buses still run; the radios still hum, but the city carries the subdued rhythm of a country waiting for confirmation that its leader is still in charge.
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Tanzania wakes to the same government, the same questions, and the same uneasy quiet that follows the sound of its own unrest.