Why Suluhu was sworn into office without cheering crowds, songs of unity

When Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, 65, took the oath of office for her second term on Monday, the scene was a stark departure from the hopeful celebrations that marked her first swearing-in four years ago.

Gone were the cheering crowds, bright flags, and songs of unity that once filled the air.

Instead, the ceremony was held at a tightly controlled military parade ground in Dodoma, with access restricted to a handful of invited guests and dignitaries.

Absent were the ordinary Tanzanians including the 31 million said to have voted for her in last Wednesday’s election, a contest overshadowed by violent protests and a sweeping internet blackout.

The event was steeped in symbolism, irony, and silence. Sparse applause, the heavy presence of soldiers, and the absence of fanfare spoke louder than any official statement.

Where her 2021 inauguration had signalled a promise of openness and reform, this one seemed to emphasise control, containment, and caution.

Registered voters.

Official results from the National Electoral Commission (NEC), released on Saturday, declared Suluhu the winner of the October 29 presidential election with 31.9 million votes, representing 97.66 per cent of the total cast. The NEC reported an 86 per cent turnout from roughly 37.7 million registered voters.

But the numbers strained credulity, particularly in an election where leading opposition candidates had been barred, detained, or disqualified in the lead-up to polling day.

At the ceremony where she received her victory certificate, President Suluhu denounced protesters who had taken to the streets to challenge the election results, calling them “unpatriotic elements undermining national peace.”

Her remarks, broadcast live on State television, struck a defiant tone, portraying dissenters as threats to stability.

During the swearing-in ceremony, she reiterated that protests and violence were “not part of Tanzanian culture,” claiming that many of those arrested during the deadly demonstrations on Wednesday mid-morning — which disrupted voting in major cities— were “not Tanzanians” but individuals from unspecified foreign countries. Online, the mood was equally stark. One Tanzanian user quipped, “Why be sworn in on a military ground? Is she afraid of the 31 million people she claims voted for her?”

The sarcastic post — shared through encrypted networks amid the ongoing internet blackout — captured the national unease, highlighting the widening gap between the government’s narrative of triumph and the climate of fear now gripping public life.

Outside Tanzania, the response was as muted as the ceremony itself.

In East Africa, where presidents are typically quick to congratulate one another after elections, recognition of President Suluhu’s victory has been strikingly slow and notably cautious.

By Monday night, only four regional leaders — Kenya’s William Ruto, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Burundi’s Évariste Ndayishimiye, and Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud — had issued formal statements of congratulations.

Their messages shared a common feature: none addressed the violent crackdown, the mounting death toll, or the sweeping arrests that followed protests.

Instead, each framed Samia’s re-election as a moment of “stability” and “continuity,” prioritising diplomatic caution over confronting the reality on the ground.

Somalia’s President Mohamud praised Suhulu’s “resilience and leadership,” describing her re-election as “a testament to the trust Tanzanians have placed in her administration.”

Burundi’s President Ndayishimiye sent his message within hours of the election results, commending “Tanzania’s commitment to peace and prosperity.”

Both avoided mention of widespread shootings or the hundreds of bodies reported in hospitals and morgues.

Uganda’s President Museveni’s statement arrived late, released Monday but dated Sunday, congratulating Suluhu with language emphasising regional cooperation rather than democratic legitimacy.

He lauded her “vision and leadership” and reaffirmed the “historic bonds” between Uganda and Tanzania. Yet behind the formal tone lay evident reluctance.

Diplomatic sources in Kampala confirmed that the message had been drafted and held back amid debate within Museveni’s team over whether it should be sent at all.

Won’t stand

A senior East African diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained: “In this region, a congratulatory message is never just a message, it’s a signal. When leaders delay or keep their words short, they’re sending a message of discomfort. They are saying, ‘We see you, but we won’t stand next to you.’”

Kenya’s President Ruto struck an even more cautious tone, saluting “Tanzania’s democratic exercise” without referencing the violence or internet shutdown.

His muted statement quickly drew criticism online, where Kenyans accused him of “moral inconsistency” for endorsing a process international observers have described as deeply flawed.

The irony was hard to ignore. Even as regional leaders spoke of peace and friendship, Tanzanian hospitals overflowed with the dead and wounded, and morgues struggled to cope.

Their silence on the killings spoke louder than the words of congratulation, a collective act of diplomatic restraint that highlighted both the isolation of Suluhu’s government and the unease now rippling through East Africa’s political establishment.

From Addis Ababa, the African Union Commission issued its statement on Saturday, simultaneously congratulating her and expressing “deep regret over post-election deaths,” urging restraint. This dual language of praise and concern — congratulations tempered with sorrow — revealed a deeper ambivalence toward Tanzania’s electoral process.

Even the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where Tanzania traditionally enjoys historical reverence as the home of liberation solidarity under Julius Nyerere, withheld the warm embrace typically extended to its member states.

Moral compass

SADC communiqué spoke only of “concern over violence” and the “need for calm,” leaving out any explicit mention of victory or legitimacy.

A Nairobi-based analyst with the Institute for Security Studies said bluntly: “For decades, Tanzania was the moral compass of East Africa, the country that mediated others’ crises. Now, the rest of the region doesn’t want to touch its own election. That’s a crisis of credibility.”

The contrast with 2021 is stark. Then, Suluhu’s rise to the presidency after John Magufuli’s death was hailed across the continent as a moment of democratic renewal. She lifted bans on opposition rallies, reopened newspapers, and promised political tolerance. Western diplomats and human rights activists alike saw her as a reformer.

By late 2024, however, the reform glow had faded. Opposition leaders were detained, civil society groups faced new restrictions, and independent journalists were summoned by intelligence services.

As the 2025 elections approached, government censors tightened online control, suppressed dissenting media, and deployed heavy police presence in major cities. Observers now argue the elections restored order but eroded legitimacy.

The Southern African Development Community Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM), led by former Malawian Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya, issued one of the most critical assessments Tanzania has faced in years. SEOM’s preliminary report concluded that the elections “fell short of SADC’s Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”

Confiscating passports

The mission noted that internet shutdowns disrupted communication between observers and voters, while security forces harassed accredited monitors, forcing some to delete photographs and confiscating passports in Tanga.

Delayed accreditation and bureaucratic obstruction “impeded the free observation of voting and counting processes.”

“Voters could not freely express their democratic will,” the mission stated – a rare and unambiguous rebuke from a bloc not known for direct language.

Robert Kituyi is an independent investigative journalist

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation issued a blistering statement, expressing dismay over “banning opposition parties, shutting the internet, and shooting at demonstrators, most of them young people.” It added, “An election that excludes the opposition cannot be considered legitimate.”

International observers voiced similar concerns. The European Union (EU) highlighted “violence, the internet shutdown, and reports of irregularities” and urged authorities to “exercise maximum restraint to preserve human lives.” The East and Horn of Africa Election Observation Network (E-HORN) noted that while some voters participated peacefully, subsequent restrictions and security responses undermined democratic standards, emphasizing that “genuine democratic elections require…open civic participation, unhindered access to information, and transparency in results management.”

The regional hesitation to recognize Samia’s victory carries more than symbolic weight. Tanzania’s economy, closely intertwined with its neighbors through trade corridors, ports, and pipelines, depends on stable regional relations. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), linking Uganda’s Lake Albert oil fields to the port of Tanga, requires sustained cooperation between Kampala and Dodoma – cooperation now threatened by mutual caution.

While both Museveni and Ruto extended formal recognition, their statements read as acts of necessity rather than conviction. “No one wants chaos on their doorstep,” said a Kenyan foreign policy expert, “but no one wants to be seen endorsing a sham either. So leaders walk a fine line – polite recognition, zero enthusiasm.”

The diplomatic chill is already having economic consequences. The Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) reports that the weeklong internet blackout crippled e-commerce and mobile banking, costing businesses an estimated USD 50 million a day. Donor agencies, including the EU and the World Bank, have quietly paused disbursements pending clarification on post-election developments.

Civil society groups are under siege. Several human rights defenders have gone into hiding; others have been detained under security laws. Independent media, facing censorship, now rely on diaspora networks and encrypted channels to disseminate information.

For a country long viewed as a beacon of stability, Tanzania’s current crisis marks a profound reputational rupture. Since independence, it has prided itself on peaceful politics and its role as a mediator in regional conflicts – from Mozambique to South Africa. But this election has turned the lens inward.

Diplomats warn that without credible reforms, Tanzania risks diplomatic isolation. “The perception now is of a government that governs by fear, not consent,” said a European envoy based in Nairobi. “That’s not the Tanzania the world used to know.”

The African Union and United Nations Human Rights Council are reportedly considering an independent fact-finding mission, while rights groups push for ICC oversight. The coming months will determine whether President Samia doubles down on control or reopens the political space she once promised. With legitimacy under question and violence simmering, her government faces mounting pressure to allow independent investigations and engage opposition leaders.

Political analysts caution that without such measures, Tanzania could enter a prolonged period of diplomatic freeze and internal unrest. “This election was not just about ballots,” said a political science lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam. “It was about power – who holds it, and how far they will go to keep it.”

In the court of regional opinion, Tanzania’s 2025 election has yet to earn legitimacy. The silence of Africa’s strongmen speaks volumes – a diplomatic echo that may haunt Dodoma for years to come. For President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the test of her second term begins not with applause, but with the sound of hesitation from the world beyond her borders.