Tanzania: John Pambalu, second Chadema leader charged with high treason, faces the death penalty

John Pambalu, a member of the national council of the Tanzanian opposition party Chadema and former leader of its youth wing, was charged with high treason on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in Tanzania, an offense punishable by the death penalty, reports Africanews based on an AFP dispatch. He is the second party official to be prosecuted under this charge, following Chadema president Tundu Lissu.

According to the indictment cited by the agency, John Pambalu is accused of attempting to convince public opinion to obstruct the 2025 general elections and of leading repeated demonstrations with the aim of intimidating the Tanzanian executive. No conviction has been handed down at this stage, and the individual benefits from the presumption of innocence.

A 98% election result and a country that has not turned the page

The accusation refers directly to the October 2025 election, from which Chadema had been excluded and at the end of which President Samia Suluhu Hassan was credited with 98% of the vote according to official results. The demonstrations that followed resulted in approximately 2,000 deaths according to the opposition and human rights organizations; the official investigation launched by the president, whose impartiality is contested by the opposition, recorded a figure of 518 deaths without identifying those responsible.

One year later, neither of these two death tolls has been reconciled, and no one has been tried for these deaths. It is within this vacuum that the prosecutions now targeting the leaders of the main opposition party are taking place.

"I will not flee my country"

The trial of Tundu Lissu for high treason, which opened in August 2026 and is considered by many observers to be political, is expected to conclude soon. During a meeting in Arusha, Chadema vice-president John Heche stated that he expects to be targeted by a similar procedure and declared that he would not leave the country, with his party promising to "fight until the end," according to Africanews.

Coming to power in March 2021 after the death of John Magufuli, Samia Suluhu Hassan had been praised for loosening the grip on opposition parties and the press. Her opponents now accuse her of having returned to the methods of her predecessor.

What comes next

The question posed to the Tanzanian justice system goes beyond the fate of one man: it is whether calling for an election boycott or demonstrating can be classified as treason against the State. In East Africa as elsewhere on the continent, the answer will weigh on the space left for opposition parties. The verdict expected in the Tundu Lissu case will provide a first indication, even before the opening of John Pambalu's trial, the schedule for which has not been specified.