Police have revealed that a senior official of Tanzania’s main opposition party has been arrested amid a crackdown on dissenting voices ahead of general elections next week.
While attempting to attend the treason trial of party leader Tundu Lissu, the Deputy Chairperson of Chadema, John Heche, was detained.
Chadema claimed in a statement that the government plotted to “arrest senior party leaders and detain them until after the elections”, which will take place on October, 29.
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For now, the government has not responded to this accusation. Chadema alleged that Heche was arrested on Wednesday as he arrived at the High Court in Dar es Salaam.
The party also claimed that Heche is being sent to Tarime, a northern town over 1,300km (820 miles) away from Dar es Salaam. Cops are yet to comment on the arrest, which was Heche’s second detention in a week.
He was briefly detained on Saturday while attempting to cross into neighboring Kenya, reportedly to attend the burial of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
According to Tanzania’s immigration department, Heche had attempted to illegally cross the border, yet Chadema denied this allegation.
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The arrest of John Heche comes amid an outcry over the disappearance of a former Tanzanian ambassador, who was also a critic of the government.
The family of Humphrey Polepole revealed that he was kidnapped at his home in Dar es Salaam on 6 October.
According to Polepole’s brother, he had found the door to the house broken and a large amount of blood spilled.
Chadema has been banned from participating in next week’s elections in Tanzania, and its leader, Tundu Lissu, has been detained since April.
Luhaga Mpina, the candidate of the second-biggest opposition party ACT-Wazalendo, has also been disqualified, leaving only candidates from minor parties to face President Samia, per the BBC.
