Africa-Press – Tanzania. VOCAL Africa CEO and activist Hussein Khalid has raised an alarm over some Kenyans being caught up in the Tanzanian post-election violence as the death toll rises.
Taking to X on Sunday, Khalid relayed that there had been reports of deaths of Kenyans, even identifying one John Okoth Ogutu, who was allegedly shot on election day, October 29.
“We are receiving reports that there are Kenyans who have been killed in Tanzania,” he stated.
Okoth, who was working as a teacher in Tanzania, is said to have been killed in Ubungo, Dar es Salaam, and his body is at the Mwananyamala Mortuary, according to Khalid.
This report comes just days after protests broke out in Tanzania as the nation headed to the polls to vote on October 29.
The election was highly controversial for its lack of strong opposition, as the main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu of the CHADEMA Party, is facing treason charges, and the second main opposition leader, Luhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wazalendo party, was disqualified.
As such, Tanzanians took to the streets to decry oppression, with many not turning up to vote.
Despite the seemingly low turnout, Tanzania’s electoral commission reported that President Suluhu had won by a landslide with 98 per cent of votes, scooping 31.9 million votes out of the 32 million votes.
The commission further reported that the voter turnout was nearly 87 per cent, an assertion that the opposition and other election observers have termed as false.
Meanwhile, Tanzanian nationals have not relented, taking to the streets each day to contest the election process, even as police officers continue to use strong-handed means to disperse them, leading to hundreds of deaths.
On October 30, the day after the elections, police were forced to put an end to protests at the Namanga border, which even spread to Kenya. A group of Kenyans were prevented from entering Tanzania to participate in the demonstrations at the border.
Journalists and human rights groups have yet to confirm the number of post-election deaths so far, but the opposition, CHADEMA, has alleged that about 700 people have died.
On October 31, a diplomatic source told the BBC that there was credible evidence that at least 500 people had been killed in the skirmishes.
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