A year after Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan mocked Kenya’s anti-government protests, the words have come back as a painful echo. Her 2023 remarks celebrating Tanzania’s stability against a backdrop of regional turmoil now ring with heavy irony.
Elections day on Wednesday October 29, 2025 in Tanzania had been characterized by widespread unrest and a heavy-handed security response. The same ‘fire’ President Suluhu once joked about across the border now appears to be burning at home.
Last year, the Tanzanian President’s comments quickly spread across East Africa. Speaking at a public event, President Suluhu had quipped about her neighbour’s struggles.
“Investors wanatoroka kule[Kenya], wanahamia hapa kwetu Tanzania… kwa jirani kunawaka moto.”
— President Samia Suluhu Hassan, 2023
At the time, the remark was a domestic success, lauded as a signal of Tanzania’s political calm and economic security under her leadership.
Today, the reality on the ground is starkly different. Tanzania’s election day has been marred by widespread unrest across major urban centres.
Protests erupted in cities including Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Arusha. Thousands of young Tanzanians defied police orders to stay home and demonstrated against the elections.
Security forces responded aggressively to the defiance. They deployed tear gas, water cannons, and reports indicate the use of live ammunition.
The Ministry of Interior has imposed a nationwide curfew in an attempt to control the violence. Compounding the unrest, internet connectivity and mobile networks have been severely disrupted across the country.
The global internet monitor, NetBlocks, confirmed a “nationwide disruption” of live network data, corroborating reports of a digital blackout.
The protests come after a prolonged period of escalating tensions and an increased clampdown on political opposition and civil society.
In the run-up to the vote, analysts noted an intensifying repression, which included the disqualification of opponents from the main opposition parties. A climate of fear has been reported by human rights groups.
The current unrest reflects deep public anger over the stifling of opposition voices and concerns about the fairness of the electoral process.
“Tanzania will never be the same after this election. We are either entering a completely new paradigm or level of impunity, or we are entering a completely new level of civil defiance.” — Deus Valentine, Centre for Strategic Litigation
Opposition figures and government critics have faced a wave of arrests and abductions in recent months, further polarising the political landscape before election day.
