Tanzania Probe Reveals Scale of Election Violence, Over 500 Killed

A government-appointed commission of inquiry has reported that at least 518 people were killed in violence that broke out during Tanzania’s elections last October, in the first ‌official acknowledgment of the scale of the deadly unrest.

Beyond confirming the death toll, the report has intensified discussion on broader governance issues, including electoral credibility, institutional trust, and the need for reforms in managing politically sensitive crises.

The commission placed responsibility for the violence on protesters, a conclusion that has drawn criticism from opposition parties and rights observers who say the findings fail to address deeper structural and political causes of the unrest.

The findings differ from earlier estimates by the U.N. human rights office, which said hundreds were killed following the exclusion of leading opposition candidates from presidential and parliamentary elections.

The main opposition party has maintained that the death toll may be in the thousands, reflecting ongoing uncertainty over the scale of the crisis.

Tanzanian authorities had previously withheld official figures, ⁠saying they were awaiting the commission’s findings after it was appointed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in November. The government has denied allegations by human rights organisations that security forces used excessive force during the unrest.

Speaking during the handover of the report, commission chair Mohamed Chande Othman said the death toll could be higher due to difficulties in identifying victims. He recommended that a separate criminal investigation body be established to examine specific incidents and did not directly assign responsibility to law enforcement agencies.

Chande said the commission had “indisputable evidence” that the violence was organised and funded by “trained people,” though he did not identify those allegedly involved.

“Organisers used various techniques, including using people without deep understanding and desperate youth, while ‌encouraging ⁠simultaneous acts of violence across different locations,” he said.

President Hassan, who was declared winner of the election with nearly 98% of the vote, has said the unrest was an attempt to overthrow her government and alleged foreign involvement, without presenting public evidence.

The commission’s report has not been released in full, with Hassan describing it as “the property of the president,” a position that has raised questions over transparency and access to findings that involve mass casualties.

Opposition party CHADEMA rejected the report, arguing that a government facing allegations of abuses cannot credibly investigate itself, further intensifying calls for independent oversight mechanisms.

The report also references allegations of shootings in homes and commercial areas, including in Mwanza. Reuters investigations previously found that police officers killed more than a dozen unarmed young men at a cafe far from any protest activity, alongside other reported incidents in different cities.

The government has maintained that security forces acted within the law and said many allegations were based on unverified or out-of-context information.

With pressure building from opposition groups, civil society, and international observers, the report has renewed calls for electoral and security-sector reforms aimed at preventing a repeat of one of Tanzania’s most violent election periods in recent history.