At least 21 children, aged between five and 17, are among the victims, a new government inquiry has confirmed
More than 500 people, including children, were killed in mass disorder after Tanzania’s disputed election last year, according to an official report published on Thursday.
Violent protests erupted across the East African country after the October 29 vote. President Samia Suluhu Hassan, one of only two female heads of state in Africa, won 97% of the votes, granting her a first full five-year term as an elected head of state. She initially assumed the presidency in March 2021 following the death of former President John Magufuli.
A commission set up to investigate the unrest announced that at least 518 people died from “unnatural causes,” including 197 who were shot dead. More than 2,000 people were injured, with 833 suffering gunshot wounds, the report said, adding that the toll could rise due to undocumented burials and missing records.
“Of the 518 deaths, 21 were children. In this group, 15 were children aged between 15 and 17 years, four were aged between seven and ten years, and two were under five years of age,” the commission’s chairman, retired Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, said on Thursday.
The report also stated that 245 people remain missing and that 39 families reported seeing the bodies of relatives in morgues before they later disappeared. While the commission did not assign responsibility for the deaths, it recommended further investigation into the use of firearms during the unrest.
The demonstrations were triggered by the disqualification of Hassan’s two main rivals, including Tundu Lissu, the leader of the opposition Chadema party, who has been in detention for months on treason charges.
The authorities imposed an internet shutdown during the unrest. In November, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) reported that hundreds of people were killed, with an unknown number injured or detained. It condemned the alleged use of “unnecessary or disproportionate force,” including lethal weapons, against protesters by the police.
A 208-page report released on Monday by the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition also documented claims of mass graves, citing accounts of bodies being taken from morgues and buried in undisclosed locations.
However, the government commission dismissed the allegations of mass graves. It concluded that the demonstrations were not peaceful, but rather unlawful and coordinated acts of violence in violation of the country’s laws.
“The information and evidence confirm that there were people roaming around in various places… inciting and recruiting various people to participate in violence during and after the general election,” it stated.
The commission said its findings will guide constitutional reforms and the creation of an investigative body to pursue accountability for those involved in the turmoil.
