Tanzania president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has been sworn in for a second term with tight security, after violent protests that led to the death of hundreds due to the recent election results.
Opposition and multiple citizens rejected the results favoring Hassan and called it all a sham.
According to reports, the inauguration ceremony was held at a military parade grounds in the capital, Dodoma, rather than a stadium as in years past. The ceremony is closed to the public, yet is being shown on state TV.
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On Saturday, Samia was declared Tanzania president with 98% of the vote and faced little opposition with key rival candidates either imprisoned or prohibited from running.
On the international front, observers have raised concerns about the transparency of the election and its violent aftermath.
Authorities in Tanzania have sought to downplay the scale of the violence, and it remains difficult to obtain information from the country or verify the death toll, amid a nationwide internet shutdown in place since the day citizens took took to the polls.
Samia took her oath of office at a ceremony attended by regional leaders and dignitaries, including the presidents of Somalia, Zambia, Mozambique, and Burundi wearing a red headscarf and dark glasses.
State broadcaster TBC had earlier stated that the public would not attend the event.
In her victory speech on Saturday, Samia said the poll was “free and democratic” and deemed the behavior of protestors “unpatriotic”.
To opposition leaders and activists, hundreds were killed in clashes with security forces.
The opposition Chadema party told the AFP news agency that it had recorded “no less than 800” deaths by Saturday, while a diplomatic source in Tanzania said to the BBC that there was credible evidence that at least 500 people had died.
Earlier, the UN human rights office said there were credible reports of at least 10 deaths in three cities.
After the chaos, the prices of food, fuel, and other essentials have more than doubled or tripled in many areas with schools and colleges closed and public transport halted.
Chadema, which was barred from competing, rejects the results announced by the electoral commission, stating that they had “no basis in reality as the truth is that no genuine election took place in Tanzania”. It has called for a fresh election.
