Tanzania Court Clears Tundu Lissu of Treason but Sentences Opposition Leader to Four Years

On Friday, November 6, 2026, a three-judge panel of Tanzania’s High Court in Dar es Salaam cleared opposition leader Tundu Lissu of treason but found him guilty of incitement and sentenced him to four years in prison. The ruling removed the threat of a death sentence, which treason can carry under Tanzanian law, but it still left the chairman of the main opposition party behind bars after 577 days in detention. Lissu plans to appeal, and he has been granted leave to appeal to Tanzania’s Court of Appeal.

What the Court Decided on Friday

The judgment in Dar es Salaam delivered two very different results in a single hearing. On the most serious charge, treason, the court acquitted Tundu Lissu. On incitement, it convicted him and imposed a four-year prison sentence. Treason can carry a possible death sentence under Tanzanian law, so the acquittal took that threat off the table. A four-year sentence is still heavy, and Lissu will remain in prison while his appeal moves forward unless a higher court changes the result.

The three judges who decided the case were Justice Dunstan Ndunguru, Justice James Karayemaha and Justice Ferdinand Kiwionde. They sat as a panel, and their ruling closed a trial that had run for more than a year and a half. Lissu had been in detention since his arrest in April 2025, and Friday was the first time the court had given a final answer on the charges against him.

Police surrounded the courtroom in Dar es Salaam as the hearing took place, and crowds gathered nearby. Authorities brought Lissu to the hearing in a heavily guarded convoy, a sign of how closely watched the case had become. Inside the courtroom, senior figures from his party were present, including CHADEMA vice president John Heche and deputy general secretary Amani Golugwa. Lissu is chairman of CHADEMA, the Party for Democracy and Development, Tanzania’s main opposition party.

Why the Treason Charge Failed and the Incitement Conviction Stood

The court’s reasoning turned on what prosecutors had to prove for each charge. For treason, the judges ruled that prosecutors failed to prove a central element of the offence: that Lissu intended to intimidate the government. Without that proof, the treason charge could not stand, and the court acquitted him. The court said the state had not proved that specific charge.

On incitement, the judges took a different view. They found that his public remarks, including calls to prevent the October 2025 general election under the campaign slogan “No Reforms, No Election,” amounted to incitement. The conviction was made under Section 390 of the Penal Code. The judges held that the words he used in public went beyond ordinary political speech and crossed into incitement.

One part of the ruling drew particular attention. Lissu was not separately charged with incitement in the original charge. The court used Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows conviction for a lesser offence where the evidence establishes it, even if it was not separately included in the original charge.

Lissu rejected that approach in court. He said: “I was not charged with incitement but you judges are convicting me with it just to impress the person who gives you the titles.” His position throughout the case has been that his speech did not violate any law and that the charges were politically motivated. He pleaded not guilty, and he has held that line from the start.

The Speech and the Arrest That Started the Case

The case began with a speech. On April 3, 2025, Lissu spoke at CHADEMA headquarters in Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam. Prosecutors said he told supporters the opposition would “block the election” and “mobilise rebellion.” Those words became the foundation of the case against him. The prosecution treated them as evidence that he was urging action against the state, while Lissu and his supporters treated them as part of a political campaign calling for electoral reform.

The slogan at the centre of the dispute was “No Reforms, No Election.” It was the campaign slogan under which Lissu and CHADEMA were calling for changes to the electoral system before the October 2025 general election. The court had to decide whether the calls that went with it were lawful political pressure or incitement. The judges decided they were incitement, and that finding is now the basis of the four-year sentence.

Days after the speech, Lissu was arrested. He was taken into custody on April 9, 2025, in Mbinga, in the Ruvuma region, shortly after addressing a CHADEMA rally. The next day, April 10, 2025, he was charged with treason. From that point on, Lissu remained in detention while the case moved through the courts, a period that reached 577 days before Friday’s judgment. Amnesty International said he had spent those 577 days in arbitrary detention solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights.

Lissu, CHADEMA, and a Case That Shook the Election

The case did not stay inside the courtroom. It helped fuel the worst political unrest in Tanzania’s history during the October 2025 elections, when the government carried out detentions targeting opponents and critics. The timing of the case and the election were closely linked. The speech at the heart of the trial was about the October 2025 general election, and the trial ran through the election period itself. It was only the third high-profile treason trial in mainland Tanzania’s history.

The result also fits into a wider pattern of high-stakes political change across the world in recent weeks. Leadership changes and court decisions have shaped politics in several countries at the same time. Readers following those stories may want to read about how Muhoozi Kainerugaba stepped down as Uganda military chief on November 6, another major development in East African politics on the same day. In South America, political pressure has also forced dramatic moves, as shown by the story of how Santiago Pena resigned in Paraguay after the Ueno bank collapse. And courts in other countries have also stepped in to pause major government plans, as in the case where a judge blocked Trump arch construction for 14 days after federal panel approval.

For CHADEMA, the verdict leaves the party without its chairman in a free role at a difficult time. His party spokesperson Brenda Rupia told Reuters he planned to appeal. That appeal is the next step, and the party will now have to organise around a leader who is in prison while the appeal is heard.

Reaction in Court and Beyond, and What Happens Next

The reaction to the verdict was swift and sharply divided. Amnesty International called the conviction and sentence a travesty of justice. The group said the verdict was the culmination of a deeply flawed process, and it repeated its view that Lissu had spent 577 days in arbitrary detention solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights.

Lissu’s own words in court were just as direct. His remark to the judges, that they were convicting him of a charge he had not faced in order to impress the person who gives them their titles, was a public challenge to the court’s independence. It was a sign that he does not accept the legitimacy of the incitement conviction, even though he was cleared of treason.

The next step is the appeal. Lissu has been granted leave to appeal to Tanzania’s Court of Appeal, which means the higher court will hear his challenge to the conviction and the sentence. The appeal will focus on the questions the trial court decided, including whether the speech amounted to incitement and whether Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act was properly used to convict him of an offence that was not separately included in the original charge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Tundu Lissu cleared of treason?

Yes. On Friday, November 6, 2026, a three-judge panel of Tanzania’s High Court in Dar es Salaam acquitted him of treason. The judges ruled that prosecutors failed to prove a central element of the charge, that Lissu intended to intimidate the government. Treason carries a possible death sentence under Tanzanian law, so the acquittal removed that threat.

Why was he sentenced to four years in prison?

The court found him guilty of incitement under Section 390 of the Penal Code and sentenced him to four years in prison. The judges held that his public remarks, including calls to prevent the October 2025 general election under the slogan “No Reforms, No Election,” amounted to incitement.

How long had Lissu been in detention before the verdict?

He had spent 577 days in detention before Friday’s judgment. He was arrested on April 9, 2025, in Mbinga, Ruvuma region, shortly after addressing a CHADEMA rally, and he was charged with treason the next day, April 10, 2025.

What happens next in the case?

Lissu plans to appeal, and he has been granted leave to appeal to Tanzania’s Court of Appeal. His party spokesperson Brenda Rupia told Reuters he planned to appeal. The higher court will hear his challenge to the conviction and the four-year sentence.

Sources

• 985 The River: Tanzanian court clears opposition leader Lissu of treason
• Amnesty International USA: Tanzania conviction and sentencing of opposition leader Tundu Lissu a travesty of justice
• People Daily: Tanzania court sentences Tundu Lissu as treason case takes new turn

Final Thoughts

Friday’s verdict gave both sides something to point to, and neither side got everything it wanted. The acquittal on treason removed the gravest threat Lissu faced, the possibility of a death sentence, and it showed that the court was willing to hold prosecutors to their burden of proof. The conviction on incitement and the four-year sentence showed that the court still found his public remarks went too far, and that finding will keep him in prison while the appeal is heard.

The appeal will now decide how this story ends. Lissu has leave to appeal to Tanzania’s Court of Appeal, and his party has said he plans to use it. Until that appeal is decided, the verdict stands as the latest chapter in a case that has already shaped an election, fuelled unrest, and tested the limits of political speech in Tanzania.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration.