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East Africa’s slide into autocracy worrying
Tanzania’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court.
The detention and deportation of Kenyans from Tanzania is a worrying development. That these actions come under the watch of President Samia Suluhu—once hailed as a breath of fresh air after the hardline John Magufuli era—makes it more disappointing.
The East Africa region is increasingly marked by intolerance to dissent, and the lines between ruling parties and the State are dangerously blurring. In Tanzania today, it’s nearly impossible to separate the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) from government machinery, echoing Kenya’s past under Kanu.
President Suluhu’s warning of Kenyan citizens against “destroying” Tanzania, reveals the authoritarian logic that has seen opposition figures like Tundu Lissu repeatedly persecuted.
What exactly is the Tanzanian government afraid of? A handful of peaceful observers from neighbouring countries attending a public trial should not trigger paranoia in a country claiming to uphold democratic values.
The Gen Z-led protests in Kenya were a wake-up call not just to Nairobi, but to all capitals in the region. They signalled a generational shift demanding accountability, transparency, and open governance. Rather than embrace this, regimes are digging in, terrified of losing control.
Tanzania’s reaction reeks of insecurity, driven by fears that Kenyan activism and political engagement could spill across over. But democracy isn’t a contagion to be contained—it is a right to be protected and expanded.
East African unity was never just about governments. The dream of free movement, shared currency and a common legislative framework rests on mutual respect for civil liberties and human rights.
East Africans have a duty to resist the creeping authoritarianism that threatens to erode decades of democratic progress. Observing a trial, standing in solidarity, or speaking truth to power should never be a crime. If Mr Lissu’s life or freedom is at risk, then the East African Community must act—not as outsiders interfering, but as a family defending one of its own.
Tanzania must evolve. And East Africans must decide: Will we move forward as a region grounded in rights and unity—or slide back into a patchwork of states controlled by paranoid strongmen, silencing dissent, fearful of their own people.
Samfelix Randa