A Tanzanian journalist whom we will name Bin Suleiman for the sake of his safety, has shared a chilling account of his ordeal while covering the 2025 Tanzanian elections, revealing a disturbing pattern of violence, intimidation, and suppression of press freedom that forced him to seek refuge in Kenya.

Suleiman, woke up on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, with the expectation of fulfilling his professional duty as a journalist by covering the electoral process and informing citizens about the democratic exercise.

Like many Tanzanians, he first exercised his civic responsibility by casting his vote before beginning his coverage of the election.

What unfolded that day transformed from a routine assignment into a nightmare that has left him traumatized and in exile.

Around 11 a.m., while voting was still in progress, chaos erupted as people began rioting. Police were quickly dispatched to the scene and responded with deadly force, opening fire on protesters and citizens alike.

“At around 11 a.m., people started rioting. The police officers were deployed and protests began. The police were shooting and killing people. I’m yet to come to terms with all I saw,” Suleiman recounted.

Suleiman described scenes of unrestrained brutality as law enforcement officers mercilessly beat and killed people in what he characterized as a massacre.

As he attempted to flee from the advancing police, he encountered two lifeless bodies lying along his escape route. In the midst of the violence, protesters had set fire to polling stations in apparent retaliation.

Despite his attempts to escape, Suleiman was caught by police officers who beat him severely and bound him with rope.

His equipment, a camera and tripod stand, along with his mobile phone, were confiscated. In a disturbing twist, he was forced to sign a document indicating that he had voluntarily surrendered these items.

“They broke my camera and tripod stand. They took my phone and made me sign a document to show that I willingly agreed,” Suleiman recounted.

Rather than being taken to a police station for formal processing, Suleiman was driven around in a vehicle for hours, enduring continuous beatings.

“I was arrested around one o’clock, they didn’t take me to the police, they just drove me around in a car until evening. They beat me very badly,” he explained.

As darkness fell, a curfew was imposed and the grim task of body collection began.

“Night fell and it was a lockdown and now people started picking up bodies. It has never been like this even for a single day. People were picking up bodies and the police still beating them,” Suleiman said.

The journalist painted a picture of the current state of press freedom in Tanzania, where journalists face an impossible choice between self-censorship and persecution.

“Being a journalist in Tanzania these days is very difficult, either you have a stubborn spirit or you praise the government. If you see clearly, most stories are praising mama Samia and not going against her in any form. Contrary to this, people are dying and that is what they do not want to share and show,” he stated.

Suleiman emphasized that the Tanzanian government is deliberately suppressing information about casualties and missing persons from the election day violence.

“The government doesn’t want to announce that there are people missing and some dead,” he revealed.

The threat of treason charges, which could carry a life sentence in Tanzania, ultimately forced Suleiman to make the difficult decision to abandon his family and flee the country.

He chose Kenya as his destination specifically because Uganda had deployed troops to support the Tanzanian government and shared what he described as the same dictatorial tendencies.

“I came to Kenya because Uganda are friends with Tanzania and they are the same dictators. They accused me of treason. Treasonous charges are charged with death,” he said.