By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Patron, the Board of Trustees, and the entire Thabo Mbeki Foundation has extended deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones during the violence unleashed against citizens following the General Election held in Tanzania on 29 October 2025.
Violent demonstrations broke out in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, as the country held an election.
Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president, who took office after the death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021, has left nothing to chance for her first presidential test.
Opponents from the two main opposition parties in the east African country were disqualified and government critics were abducted, killed or arrested.
Hassan started her tenure by undoing some of Magufuli’s authoritarian and repressive policies, including by ending a ban on political rallies and making reconciliatory moves with the opposition. Along the way, she gained local and international approval.
But she later backtracked and her administration has been accused of overseeing a grim return to the repression of the past, dashing hopes of lasting change.
More than 37 million people were eligible to vote. The election encompassed separate votes for the president, MPs and local politicians.
The foundation’s statement read as follows:
The Patron, the Board of Trustees, and the entire Thabo Mbeki Foundation extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones during the violence unleashed against citizens following the election. We also pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured during this turbulent period.
Following the succession of negative events that led to the tragic loss of life, the Election Observer Missions (EOMs) of our regional and continental organisations, SADC and the AU, have made distressing determinations regarding the conduct of the election.
Collectively, the EOMs concluded that the General Election fell short of the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections of both SADC and the AU, as well as international standards. As the SADC EOM stated, the Tanzanian voters were unable to freely express their democratic will.
Consequently, both the SADC and AU observers assert that the Presidential and Parliamentary results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are not a true reflection of the will of the Tanzanian people.
This leads to the deeply troubling conclusion that the United Republic of Tanzania currently lacks a legitimate government, suggesting instead that the current administration has been imposed upon the people through a combination of force and fraudulent means. This situation is exacerbated by persistent, disturbing reports of systematic violence against opponents of the CCM, including abductions and murders.
Like many Africans, our Foundation holds the United Republic of Tanzania and its people in high esteem, honouring them as true friends and allies. During our Africa Day celebrations held earlier this year in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam, we sensed that the nation was not at ease with itself.
We consider it a privilege to claim the late, indomitable President Julius Kambarage Nyerere as one of our own leaders. We remain fiercely protective of his legacy and are deeply concerned by anything that besmirches his memory or casts the country of his birth in a negative light.
While some in Tanzania have correctly noted that the time has come for reconciliation, we are firmly of the view that such healing can only be achieved through an honest, inclusive, and sovereign national dialogue. The nation must jointly answer the critical questions: What went wrong, and what must be done to put the beloved country back on course?
We humbly suggest this course of action, convinced that it is the only means by which a polarised society can unite around the shared objectives of justice, healing, and national unity.
The people of Tanzania owe this outcome to themselves, to the late Baba wa Taifa, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, and to their fellow Africans across the continent.
Meanwhile the foundation and the Observer Research Foundation convened the 3rd edition of the Cape Town Conversation, a gathering dedicated to advancing meaningful global engagement.
CTC 2025, which began under India’s G20 Presidency, continues this momentum by convening leaders, thinkers, and innovators to push forward fresh ideas, bold partnerships, and inclusive dialogue.
The world in 2025 faces intensifying turbulence – protracted conflicts, weakened multilateral institutions, trade tensions, climate shocks, and disruptive technologies. For the Global South, development pathways are narrowing just as the need for stability and equitable growth becomes more urgent.
What To Expect at the 2025 Cape Town Conversation
The two and a half day dialogue, from 24–26 November, will be built around five interconnected thematic pillars that capture the defining debates of our time:
- The Rails for a New Globalisation
- The Growth Transition
- Shaping the New Techno Order
- Global Order in Transition
- Beyond Promises: Accelerating the SDGs
As the global order undergoes profound shifts, the Cape Town Conversation serves as a vital sanctuary for strategic clarity, shared solutions, and visionary leadership.