Tanzanian President Hassan Samia Suluhu has been declared the winner of the country’s disputed election, securing a massive 97.66% of the vote.
This result, announced by the National Electoral Commission on Saturday, comes in the wake of days of violent unrest and a heavy security crackdown following protests.
The victory hands Tanzanian President Hassan a five-year term, solidifying her power after taking office in 2021 following the death of her predecessor.
“I hereby announce Samia Suluhu Hassan as the winner of the presidential election under the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party,” Jacobs Mwambegele, the electoral chief, said while announcing the results on Saturday morning.
Samia secured about 31.9 million votes, or 97.66% of the total, with turnout nearing 87% of the country’s 37.6 million registered voters, the electoral chief said.
In Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar – which elects its own government and leader – CCM’s Hussein Mwinyi, who is the incumbent president, won with nearly 80% of the vote.
However, the victory of Tanzanian President Hassan comes after the main opposition party, Chadema, said hundreds of people have been killed by security forces since protests broke out on election day on Wednesday.
Rights groups across the country also claimed that the Tanzanian President allegedly oversaw a “wave of terror” in the East African nation ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.
Chadema was barred from taking part in the election, and its leader was put on trial for treason.
Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.
A Chadema spokesman told the press on Friday that “around 700” people had been killed, based on figures gathered from a network checking hospitals and health clinics.
A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told the press that deaths were “in the hundreds”.
Hassan has not made any public statement since the unrest began.
Her government denies using “excessive force” but has blocked the internet and imposed a tight lockdown and curfew nationwide, making it hard to get any information.
News websites have not been updated since early Wednesday, and journalists are not allowed to operate freely in the country.
UN chief Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Tanzania, “including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations”, his spokesman said in a statement.
“We are alarmed by the deaths and injuries that have occurred in the ongoing election-related protests in Tanzania,” office spokesman Seif Magango told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Nairobi.
“We call on the security forces to refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal weapons, against protesters, and to make every effort to de-escalate tensions. Protesters should demonstrate peacefully.”
