Last November, Tanzania’s president told prosecutors to review treason cases against young protesters. Within a week, hundreds had been freed.
This week, a court in Dar es Salaam read the same charge to a senior opposition organiser – John Pambalu.
John Pambalu, a senior official of Tanzania’s Chadema party, was charged with treason on Wednesday, 21 October. A conviction carries the death penalty. He is the second senior party figure to face the charge after chairman Tundu Lissu.
John Pambalu directs Chadema’s work on organisation, training and elections. He is a former chairman of the party’s youth wing and sits on its national council.
Mwananchi, which reviewed the charge sheet, reported a single count under Section 39(2)(d) of the Penal Code. Prosecutors allege that Pambalu intended, between 1 September and 29 October 2025, to persuade the public to obstruct the general election.
The charge sheet also accuses him of “conducting endless protests” to intimidate the executive. Chadema denies the allegations.
The case moved quickly. Mwananchi reported that police arrested John Pambalu in Arusha on 14 October, a day after he reappeared at a rally led by deputy chairman John Heche. Two colleagues detained alongside him were released. Pambalu was transferred to Dar es Salaam.
The same newspaper reported that he was among party figures who left the country after the election and had kept a low profile since.
Heche expects similar charges to follow. Speaking at a public meeting in Arusha, he said he believed authorities were preparing a case against him. “I will not run away from my own country,” he said, according to AFP.
Chadema says it anticipated the move. In November 2025, the party said it believed the government intended to prosecute its leaders to cripple the opposition organisation.
The first treason prosecution against a Chadema leader came in April 2025, when police arrested Lissu after a rally in Mbinga. He was charged the following day. Later that month, the party was barred from contesting the October election after refusing to sign the electoral code of conduct, which it called unconstitutional.
Lissu has remained in custody since his arrest. On 21 August, the High Court ruled that he had a case to answer. He argues that prosecutors failed to prove the intent required for a treason conviction. Judgment is scheduled for 6 November.
That ruling will not determine John Pambalu’s guilt. Each prosecution must establish its own case, although the court’s interpretation of the same statutory provision could have wider legal significance.
Both prosecutions are tied to the 2025 election. Official results gave President Samia Suluhu Hassan 98 per cent of the vote, while Chadema was excluded from the contest. Protests followed and were violently suppressed.
An inquiry established by the president put the death toll at 518 and concluded that the unrest had been planned and coordinated. Chadema and ACT-Wazalendo rejected that finding. Opposition figures and rights groups have put the toll at about 2,000.
The contrast is difficult to ignore. Hundreds of protesters had their treason cases dropped. Now, senior opposition figures are facing fresh prosecutions on the same charge.
The government rejects claims that it is targeting political opponents. Home Affairs Minister Patrobass Katambi said in July that authorities were addressing criminal conduct and that “no one can be targeted”. His comments followed terrorism charges against 23 people in Mwanza over the 7 July Saba Saba protests. Chadema says 51 of its members have been charged across several zones.
President Hassan has also spoken of dialogue. In late July, she met leaders of 18 political parties and announced a reconciliation commission intended to accelerate work on a new constitution. Chadema was not among the parties represented.
“Democracy is about shared prosperity and shared responsibility before success,” she said.
Chadema secretary-general John Mnyika said in August that genuine reconciliation required Lissu’s release, an independent inquiry into the violence of 29 October and a new constitution guaranteeing judicial independence.
The courts have offered the party some relief in other matters. In April, the Court of Appeal lifted a ban that had frozen Chadema’s activities for 309 days. On 16 October, the High Court ruled that prison officers at Ukonga must not overhear Lissu’s meetings with his lawyers.
Neither ruling affected the treason prosecutions.
Lissu’s detention has also drawn international attention. In February, a UN working group found his detention arbitrary. On 19 October, a European Parliament committee named him a finalist for the Sakharov Prize, two days before John Pambalu was charged.
One question remains unanswered. Nothing in the public reporting on John Pambalu’s case establishes whether his prosecution arose from the six-member commission appointed by the president to identify those who should face criminal accountability over the 2025 violence. The commission has a 150-day mandate.
The picture for Chadema is stark. The party was barred from the election. Its chairman has been in custody since April 2025. Its director of organisation, training and elections now faces a capital charge. Its deputy chairman says he expects to be next.
What these prosecutions mean for Tanzania’s democracy will become clearer soon. The first anniversary of the election violence falls on Thursday, 29 October. Lissu’s judgment follows on Friday, 6 November.
Tanzania has shown that treason cases can be dropped within a week. It has now brought a fresh prosecution less than a year later. Which course the authorities take next will tell Tanzanians more than any roadmap.
