Tanzania's post-election clampdown now targets Kenyans

A terse late-evening directive from Tanzanian police headquarters sent a panic and shockwave through the country's hospitality industry and ignited a sweeping foreigner crackdown.

The order, issued Monday evening, by David Misime of Jeshi la Polisi mandated all premises accommodating foreigners be immediately registered with authorities, warning that those providing lodging to unregistered individuals would face arrest alongside them.

While not explicitly naming hoteliers or Airbnb operators, the message was plain that the state was launching a ruthless campaign to target what President Samia Suluhu Hassan had earlier labeled “suspicious foreigners,” whom she blamed for the violent protests that marred her controversial re-election.

“Hatua kali zitachukuliwa,” the police statement warned – swift and severe measures would be taken. For the hundreds of Kenyans and other East Africans living and working in Tanzania, the message was unmistakable that they were the target.

The directive was followed within hours by increased police presence on highways and at all major border posts. Monday evening, security forces mounted additional roadblocks and intensified surveillance at crossings including Namanga, Holili, and Lungalunga–Horohoro, effectively sealing off escape routes for those trying to flee.

Immigration officers said they were instructed to question every traveler, inspect documentation, and detain anyone deemed suspicious. The development has now put the East African Community to one of its toughest tests yet.

The escalating sweep has also ensnared Tanzanians themselves. A human rights defender who was scheduled to travel abroad for a global human rights conference said they were blocked from reaching the airport amid the intensified nationwide crackdown and effectively did not travel for the summit. What began as an operation targeting “suspicious” foreigners has now expanded to include local activists and human rights advocates. Several defenders said they are now afraid to use their phones, citing heightened state surveillance and the fear of being tracked or arrested merely for communicating in the tense post-election climate.

President Samia on Monday solidified her government's narrative in back-to-back public addresses, first at her victory certificate ceremony on Saturday and again at her swearing-in. On both occasions, she characterised those protesting the election results as "unpatriotic elements" acting contrary to Tanzanian “values” and threatening “national peace.” During her inauguration, she escalated this rhetoric by directly attributing the violence to “foreigners,” claiming that many of those detained were "not Tanzanians" and that the protests were "not part of Tanzanian culture."

“Sikushtuka kuona kuna watu waliotoka nchi jirani na kuanza vita humu nchini mwetu,” President Samia declared during her swearing-in ceremony. “Nitawatafuta kila mmoja wenu na mtajua mimi ndiye amiri jeshi kuu na Simba jike!” (I was not shocked to see people from neighboring countries come and start violence here. I will find every one of you and you will know I am the commander in chief – the lioness!)

Her words, delivered with defiant energy, provided the political cover for what had already begun – a systematic campaign to identify, detain, and deport foreigners allegedly involved in the protests that have left hundreds dead, according to multiple sources.

The United Nations human rights office reported “credible accounts of 10 deaths” in its initial assessment on Friday, but the Catholic bishops under the Tanzania Episcopal Conference painted a far darker picture. Secretary General Charles Kitima said “hundreds” had been killed, citing reports from parishes across the country. By Thursday last week, opposition party CHADEMA claimed the death toll had surpassed 700, while diplomatic sources privately confirmed at least 500 verified fatalities – most in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza. 

The implementation of the crackdown has been swift and comprehensive. At the Namanga border post, the busiest crossing between Kenya and Tanzania, security that now includes military was dramatically reinforced.

“Crossing into or out of Tanzania now has become a nightmare, with more interrogations and tighter checks than ever before,” an immigration officer at Namanga said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the operation. The officer disclosed that about a dozen Kenyans had already been arrested while attempting to return home after the elections. Another security source warned that the crackdown could be used to target innocent Kenyans and other foreign nationals, a move aimed at reinforcing the government’s narrative that the post-election protests were orchestrated by outsiders.

In Holili, another key border point, a security agent described how military personnel had been doubled with strict orders: “No Kenyans allowed to enter Tanzania after 6 p.m.” The surveillance, he noted, had been steadily tightening over the past six days since the election protests first erupted.

Further south at the Lungalunga–Horohoro crossing, tension was also evident on Monday evening and much of Tuesday. Soldiers and immigration officers conducted rigorous checks, slowing traffic and stranding travelers for hours. Small traders said the usually busy route had fallen unusually quiet, with many avoiding it altogether. “The air feels like war is about to break out,” one trader said on phone as security patrols moved slowly along the border road.

The economic consequences have been immediate and severe. The town of Namanga, uniquely divided by the Kenya–Tanzania border, has become a ghost town of shuttered businesses and stranded trucks. Kevin Namaste, a trader on the Kenyan side, described the devastating impact. “The challenge we have today is that we are not able to operate businesses because of the elections and now the growing tension in Tanzania. The Tanzanian police are under firm instruction not to allow Kenyans to cross over. Now we have nothing to feed our families since we are not getting goods from the other side.”

The cross-border tension turned physical on October 30, a day after Tanzania’s disputed Wednesday election, when Tanzanian police began firing tear gas canisters over the border into Kenyan territory. What had initially been domestic unrest quickly escalated into an international incident, as choking clouds of gas drifted into Namanga town on the Kenyan side, forcing businesses to close and residents to flee for safety.

The Kenyan casualties

The current crisis did not emerge from a vacuum. Tanzania–Kenya relations have been deteriorating for months, particularly around issues of human rights and political activism. The pattern became unmistakably clear in May 2025, when Tanzania denied entry prominent Kenyan activists and lawyers. On May 18, 2025, when a delegation including former Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga, lawyer Martha Karua, and several other human rights defenders were detained at Julius Nyerere International Airport. Despite arriving as part of an international observer mission to monitor the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. Their passports were confiscated, they were held without explanation and promptly send back to Nairobi.

Tanzania’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Minister Dr. Damas Ndumbaro later defended the deportations, stating that Karua and her colleagues “did not have a license to practice law in Tanzania” and that their arrival “was against Tanzanian laws.”

The situation escalated dramatically with the detention of activist Boniface Mwangi, who later described being sexually tortured while in custody. At an emotional press conference in Nairobi, Mwangi claimed he was “struggling to be alive” after being stripped naked, hung upside down, beaten on his feet, and sexually assaulted while detained.

Tanzanian authorities vehemently denied the allegations, with Dar es Salaam Police Chief Jumanne Muliro dismissing them as “opinions” and “hearsay.” The incident, however, sparked outrage across the region and prompted formal legal action.

The deportations triggered a significant legal response. Mutunga, Karua, and four others filed a case at the East African Court of Justice accusing Tanzania of multiple violations of the EAC Treaty. Their petition, filed jointly with the East Africa Law Society and Pan African Lawyers Union, argued that Tanzania’s actions contravened provisions guaranteeing the rule of law, good governance, transparency, and the right to free movement across member states.

The pattern continued with the detention and alleged torture of Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire, who had traveled to Tanzania alongside Mwangi. Both were arrested after attending Lissu’s court hearing and held incommunicado before being mysteriously transported to border areas and abandoned.

Kenya’s diplomatic dilemma

The Kenyan government’s response to these escalating incidents has been characterised by notable restraint, even as citizens faced deportation, detention, and alleged torture. The most revealing insight into Kenya’s diplomatic positioning came from Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi during a May 2025 television interview.

“I will not protest President Suluhu’s remarks because I believe there is some truth in what she said,” Mudavadi stated, defending Tanzania’s right to deport Kenyan activists. He suggested that Kenyan activists sometimes overstepped boundaries, noting that “the level of etiquette or lack thereof and insults we see in Kenya, even under the guise of freedom of speech, sometimes go too far.”

Mudavadi’s comments revealed what regional analysts have described as the “Nairobi dilemma” – a government caught between defending citizens’ rights and maintaining relations with a strategically important neighbor. Some observers suggest there may be an unspoken understanding, even appreciation, when Tanzania cracks down on Kenyan activists who have been critical of both governments.

“There’s a twisted symbiosis at work,” said Nairobi-based diplomat John Patterson Wekulo. “The Kenyan government sometimes benefits when regional neighbors handle activists who cause problems for both administrations. It’s a quiet understanding that transcends official diplomacy.”

The tensions have extended beyond politics into economic competition. In July 2025, Tanzania announced a sweeping ban on foreigners, including Kenyans, from engaging in 15 business sectors traditionally dominated by small and medium enterprises. The directive, issued through Government Notice No. 487A, represented a significant protectionist turn that threatened the livelihoods of thousands of Kenyans operating in Tanzania.

The business activities specified in the ban covered a wide range of sectors from retail trade to small-scale manufacturing, potentially affecting Kenyan entrepreneurs who had established businesses across the border.

However, in a notable diplomatic intervention, Kenya secured an exemption from the ban during bilateral talks in October 2025. The last-minute reprieve highlighted the complex, often contradictory nature of Kenya–Tanzania relations, simultaneously competitive and cooperative, antagonistic and interdependent.

The humanitarian crisis deepens

Behind the political posturing and diplomatic maneuvering, a humanitarian crisis in Tanzania entered day six yesterday. The internet shutdown, while partially lifted according to authorities, remains effectively restricted for social media and messaging platforms. Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported that live metrics show social media and messaging platforms remain restricted after the five-day blackout, continuing to hamper election transparency and the free flow of information.

The partial restoration of internet access has done little to alleviate the information vacuum, with most Tanzanians still unable to communicate freely or access independent information about the ongoing situation.

The curfew, now in its sixth day, continued to paralyse economic activity in major cities. Gas stations and grocery shops remain closed in Dar es Salaam, while streets stand nearly empty. The government has additionally postponed the reopening of universities, originally scheduled for November 3, extending the educational disruption.

Regional integration experts said the targeting of Kenyans and other East Africans fundamentally contradicts the spirit of regional unity that the EAC has championed. As citizens of partner states find themselves detained, deported, or accused of subversion, the very concept of East African citizenship comes into question.