The streets of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, were reported to be calm on Thursday morning, a day after a general election marred by violence.
Protests broke out in the capital of the east African state on Wednesday over the exclusion of opposition candidates. Although results are still in, President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to consolidate his position for a second term.
His party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), has ruled since Tanzania’s independence in 1961.
The protests continued into the night despite a curfew imposed on Wednesday, AFP news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
what has the government said
“All public servants in the country must work from home, except those whose job duties require them to be present at their workplace as directed by their employers,” government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa said in a post on his Instagram account late Wednesday.
Tanzania’s state broadcaster also announced that students should stay at home on Thursday.
AFP, citing a diplomatic source, also reported that the internet blackout continued on Thursday, the day after the election.
The same source said that military and police checkpoints were present in and around Dar es Salaam.
Covering Wednesday’s elections has proven difficult as many local and international journalists have been refused accreditation.
Those who tried to enter the polling stations were not allowed to take photographs.
Eyewitnesses in Ubungo, Dar es Salaam, told DW on Wednesday that there were opposition protests there and some polling stations were vandalized.
Presidential election without main opposition parties
Tanzania’s largest opposition party Chadema boycotted the presidential election after its leader Tundu Lissu was jailed and charged with treason after demanding electoral reforms.
Luhaga Mapina, the presidential candidate of the second largest opposition party, the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo), was disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Sixteen opposition candidates representing small parties were on the ballot, but were not expected to pose a challenge to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is widely expected to win a second term.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
A previous version of this article referred to Dar es Salaam as the capital of Tanzania. While Dar es Salaam is the country’s most populous city and its historical capital, the modern capital of Tanzania is Dodoma. This has now been corrected. DW News Online apologizes for the error.