Tundu Lissu convicted of incitement, acquitted of treason

As of 10:42 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026

Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was convicted of incitement and acquitted of treason on Friday, Nov. 6, and sentenced to four years in prison by the High Court in Dar es Salaam, The Citizen and the BBC reported.

A three-judge panel found that prosecutors had failed to prove a key element of the treason charge, which can carry the death penalty, the BBC reported. But the judges ruled that Lissu, who leads the main opposition party Chadema, had encouraged supporters to disrupt the disputed 2025 general election.

The ruling

The court said Lissu's campaign slogan, "No Reforms, No Election," was enough to convict him of incitement. "By uttering those words with the intention of disseminating them to the public, the accused incited the public to disrupt the 2025 elections," the court ruled, according to the BBC.

Lissu, 58, a lawyer who represented himself, has denied the charges and calls the prosecution politically motivated. He told the court he had been charged only with treason. "The offence of incitement is one that you, honourable judges, have manufactured," he said, according to the BBC.

Lissu was arrested in April 2025, six months before the election, shortly after launching the reform campaign. He had spent 577 days in custody before the verdict, The Citizen reported.

Appeal and bail

Chadema's chief legal officer, Rugemeleza Nshala, said Lissu intends to appeal and that the party will seek bail, because incitement is a bailable offense. He said the maximum sentence for incitement is five years, noted that Lissu had already spent 577 days in custody and argued that the four-year sentence was inconsistent with the punishment the law provides, The Citizen reported.

Defense lawyer Paul Kisabo said Sunday, Nov. 8, that Nshala filed a notice of intention to appeal on Nov. 6, and that the team was waiting for the judgment and court record to prepare its grounds, Nairobi Law Monthly reported. The appeal would go to the Court of Appeal, Tanzania's highest court. If the sentence is upheld, it would rule Lissu out of the 2030 elections, the BBC reported.

Reaction and background

Amnesty International called the conviction a "travesty of justice," the BBC reported. President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government has repeatedly denied targeting its opponents, and authorities did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Samia won the October 2025 election with 98% of the vote after her two main challengers, including Lissu, were excluded, the BBC reported. Protests and a security crackdown after the vote left at least 500 people dead, according to an official inquiry, the BBC reported. Opposition groups say the toll was much higher. Samia has said the election was fair and blamed foreigners for the unrest.