By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tanzanian President was on Monday sworn-in for a second term in office amid tight security, following a disputed election rejected by opposition and sparked wave of violence on the East African country.
Samia Suluhu Hassan’s inauguration ceremony took place at a military parade grounds in the capital, instead of a stadium as has been the custom in previous years.
It is closed to the public but is being shown on state TV.
Samia was declared the winner on Saturday with over 97% of the vote. She faced minimal opposition after key rival candidates were either imprisoned or barred from running in the last Wednesday’s election.
International observers had raised concerns about the transparency of the election and its violent aftermath, with hundreds of people reportedly killed.
The authorities have sought to downplay the scale of the violence.
Wearing a red headscarf and dark glasses, Hassan took her oath of office at the ceremony attended by regional leaders and dignitaries, including the presidents of Somalia, Zambia, Mozambique, and Burundi. State broadcaster TBC had earlier said the public would not attend the event.
In her victory speech on Saturday, Hassan said the poll was “free and democratic” and described the protesters as “unpatriotic”.
Opposition leaders and activists say hundreds were killed in clashes with security forces.
The opposition CHADEMA party told the AFP news agency that it had recorded “no less than 700” deaths by Saturday, while BBC quoted a diplomatic source in Tanzania as saying that there was credible evidence that at least 500 people had died.
The UN human rights office earlier said there were credible reports of at least 10 deaths in three cities.
