Body of Kenyan still missing, as Tanzania clergy demand reforms

Fearless church leaders in Tanzania have now taken the frontline in the fight for reforms just like their Kenyan counterparts did during the fight for multi-party democracy in the early 1990s.

And despite Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo assuring family members and the country that the government was taking all necessary steps to investigate the death of a teacher in Tanzania, nothing is forthcoming.

The circumstances surrounding the death of the 33-year-old teacher John Okoth Ogutu, a Kenyan who had been living and working in Tanzania, and the whereabouts of his body have not been explained.

The family remains frustrated, while making fruitless trips to the Tanzanian High Commission in Nairobi at Reinsurance Plaza. Apart from seeking answers about his death, the family also wants support to bring the body home. 

Senior clergy from both the Catholic and protestant churches in Tanzania have now intensified calls for reforms, even as they also urge President Samia Suluhu Hassan to stop abductions and killings of protestors.

They are protesting against the ongoing crackdown on the alleged planners of the violence that rocked several cities and towns across the country on October 29, 2025, when General Elections were held.

The chairman of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference and Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, Yuda Thaddeus Ruwaichi, says the senseless killings have tainted Tanzania's image.

“We condemned the recent killing of protesters. There can be no peace without justice,” said Ruwaichi, as the government appeared to soften its stance by calling for dialogue.

On the same day Monday 10, 2025, top opposition figures, including Chadema Party’s deputy leader John Heche who was arrested before the elections on accusations of planning protests, were released on bond.

Meanwhile, the treason case against main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, was postponed after the prosecution said witnesses were not immediately available.

In its latest legal brief, the International Bar Association (IBA) reported that foreigners, activists and journalists have been caught in the widening dragnet mounted by security forces across the country.

They warned that what began as an operation against ‘suspicious foreigners’ is morphing into a full-blown assault on dissent, fuelled by fear, surveillance and the president’s defiant rhetoric.

“A terse late-evening directive from Tanzanian police headquarters sent panic and shockwave through the country’s hospitality industry and ignited a sweeping foreigner crackdown.  The order mandated that all premises accommodating foreigners be immediately registered with authorities, warning that those providing lodging to unregistered individuals would face arrest alongside them,” said IBA.

Following those threats, clerics in Tanzania have now raised their voices in churches and public spaces. They are also urging her and the government to promote reconciliation with the opposition and pacify the now deeply divided country.

The Catholic Church in Tanzania has so far boldly condemned the recent killing of hundreds of protestors on elections day before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Samia had won by a 98 percent margin.

During a funeral service on Monday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, Archbishop Ruwaichi called for the country’s urgent need for healing.

He also cautioned security forces against using excessive force when handling unarmed protestors: “The punishment for protests is not to shoot and kill.”

Chadema, Tanzania’s leading opposition party, has said at least 2,000 people died in the protests by youths across the country and hundreds more were arrested and charged with treason. Independent sources also cite alarming numbers of those killed.

The clergy in Tanzania appear to be adopting the script their Kenyans counterparts used during the struggle for the so called second liberation when senior clerics like the now deceased former head of the Anglican Church (ACK) Manasses Kuria and his successor David Gitari led the struggle from the front.

Also there were, Bishop Alexander Muge, Henry Okullu of ACK Eldoret and Kisumu dioceses respectively, Ndingi’ Mwana a‘Nzeki of Nakuru Catholic diocese and Timothy Njoya of PCEA Kinoo Parish.

Their persistent criticisms put KANU politicians on the defensive. The politicians responded by calling the Church Province of Kenya (CPK), “the Church Politics of Kenya” serving the interests of foreign masters.

 Bishop Alexander Muge died in mysterious circumstances on August 14, 1990 in a road accident on his way back to Eldoret, after defying a warning from Kanu politician Peter Okondo not to visit Busia.

Due to both local and international pressure in early December 1991, the Kanu government called a conference of KANU delegates and allowed multi-party politics.

In Tanzania, among 10 suspects police say are wanted to face treason charges, include Bishop Josephat Gwajima, an influential preacher whose church was deregistered earlier this year after he criticised the government over rights abuses.

The outspoken former MP and CCM party members is wanted for alleged treason charges along with his deputy.

Treason charges had been levelled against more than 240 people arrested during protests in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Njombe.

Treason is a capital offence punishable by death sentence in Tanzania, although no one has been hanged or executed since 1995.

Most of the protestors arraigned in court are aged between16 to 37 years and they are accused of attempting to obstruct the 2025 general election with the purpose of intimidating the executive branch of government.

 They allegedly demonstrated the intention by creating chaos and in the process, causing serious damage to government properties.

Among those charged is Jennifer Bilikwija Jovin, a 26-year-old businesswoman and social media influencer known as ‘Niffer,’ who was arrested on October 27, 2025  two days before the election.

While 21 others in her case are charged in relation to the October 29 protests, Jovin faces a distinct treason charge.

From a court charge reported, it is alleged that between August 1 and October 24, Jovin manifested her intent to obstruct the election by “encouraging the general public to purchase tear gas masks from her business centre so as to protect themselves from police tear gas during unlawful demonstrations.”

Prosecutors allege that between August 1 and October 24, she manifested her intent to obstruct the election by “encouraging the general public to purchase tear gas masks from her business centre so as to protect themselves from police tear gas during unlawful demonstrations.”

Observer missions that covered the just-ended elections said they were marred by irregularities, including outrights rigging. Former Botswana President, Ian Khama, has also said he does not recognize the leadership of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, terming her an illegitimate President.