By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tanzania’s December independence day celebrations have been cancelled. Saved public funds would instead be invested towards rebuilding infrastructure damaged in recent post-election violence, the Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba has announced.
This comes as opposition figures and civil society organisations are calling for people to converge on the December 9 independence day to demonstrate about killings that took place after the dispute from from October 29 presidential poll.
Announcing the cancellation of celebrations on Monday, Nchemba appealed to Tanzanians to avoid violence and insisted on the importance of political dialogue.
“I urge my fellow Tanzanians to come together and discuss the issues affecting us. Let us not return to what we went through, because the consequences are irreparable,” he said.
The opposition has alleged that hundreds of people died as a result of police crackdown on protesters but the government that has disputed this is yet to release its own figure. It has however set up a panel of inquiry to unravel the circumstances surrounding the unrest.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan won the poll with 98% of the vote, described by the opposition as a “mockery of democracy”.
Her key opponents were unable to contest the poll, including Tundu Lissu who has been in detention on treason charges. Also, the candidacy of Luhaga Mpina was rejected on technical grounds.
Election observers have since reported signs that the vote was manipulated and fell short of democratic standards.
President Samia came into office in 2021 as Tanzania’s first female president following the death of President John Magufuli.
