Tanzania's High Court jails Tundu Lissu for four years on incitement and dismisses the treason charge

6 November 2026

A three-judge panel in Dar-es-Salaam on Friday sentenced Tundu Lissu, head of the main opposition party Chadema, to four years in prison for incitement. The same panel dismissed the charge of treason, which carried the threat of a death sentence. The judges held that his statements were meant to disrupt elections and instigate violence. He may appeal to the Court of Appeal, the highest court of the country. Lissu rejected the verdict as political persecution. He was arrested before the October 2025 presidential vote, in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared to have won with 98 percent. This was the third high-profile treason trial in the history of mainland Tanzania.