Tanzania Govt Admits 2025 Poll Deaths, Says Violence Was Funded

The government of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu has admitted that people died following protests witnessed after the October 2025 General Election.

The admission was made during an event at State House in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, April 23, 2026, where President Suluhu received the report of the Presidential Commission tasked with investigating incidents of unrest during and after the elections.

While presenting the findings, the Chairperson of the commission, retired Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, said the violence resulted in significant loss of life and was, in part, funded.

“The Commission’s assessment is that the total number of deaths resulting from the General Election violence is 518, of which 490 are men, equivalent to 94.6 percent, and 28 are women, equivalent to 5.4 percent. Most of these deaths were unnatural,” he said.

Suluhu’s Govt Admits Deaths After 2025 Elections

He added that Dar es Salaam recorded the highest number of deaths at 182, followed by Mwanza with 90, Mbeya with 80, and Arusha with 53.

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The retired Chief Justice further revealed that 21 of those who died were children. Of that number, 15 were aged between 15 and 17 years, four were between 7 and 10 years, and two were under the age of five.

Othman said the commission established that the violence was not spontaneous but had been carefully planned.

“The Commission has found undeniable evidence that the October 2025 violence was planned, coordinated, financed and carried out by trained individuals,” he stated.

Report States that Post Election Chaos Was Funded

According to the report, the individuals involved were mobilised, trained and organised between October 12 and October 28, 2025, ahead of and during Election Day, to participate in the unrest.

The commission identified several key objectives behind the violence, including disrupting the electoral process, sending a message to the government, and engaging in acts of theft and robbery.

It further emerged that vulnerable groups, such as children, boda boda riders, and small-scale business owners, were recruited and promised incentives to participate in the violence.

“They were given between 10,000 and 50,000 Tanzanian shillings and promised jobs and a better life,” Othman said.

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He added that organisers specifically chose people with limited opportunities and used planned tactics to create unrest in several places at the same time, making it hard for security agencies to respond.

The findings come months after President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of the October 2025 General Election with nearly 98 per cent of the vote.

The outcome, however, sparked widespread backlash both locally and internationally, with critics citing human rights violations and the deaths of civilians in the aftermath of the polls.

The post-election period was marked by a heavy security crackdown following disputed results.

Main opposition party, CHADEMA, alleged that more than 1,000 people were killed and accused security forces of concealing fatalities through mass burials.

International bodies, including the United Nations, also raised alarm, citing credible reports of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and mass arbitrary detentions.

Suluhu’s government initially defended the security response, describing it as necessary to prevent an attempted overthrow, but later acknowledged the loss of life and established the commission to investigate the violence.

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Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu. PHOTO/Suluhu X.