'Abducted' Tanzanian opposition figure found dead
A member of the Tanzanian opposition party Chadema has been found dead after being abducted, beaten and doused with acid, party leader Freeman Mbowe said on Sunday.
Ali Mohamed Kibao, a member of Chadema's national secretariat, was forced off a bus at gunpoint on Friday by suspected security agents as he was travelling from Dar es Salaam to the northern port city of Tanga, party officials said, AFP reported.
His body was found in the Ununio waterfront district of Dar es Salaam on Saturday night.
The incident comes less than a month after Mbowe, his deputy Tundu Lissu and other Chadema leaders were briefly detained in a mass roundup ahead of a planned party youth event.
"The postmortem has been conducted (witnessed by) Chadema lawyers and it is clear that Kibao was severely beaten and had acid poured on his face," Mbowe told reporters.
"We cannot allow our people to continue disappearing or being killed like this," he said. "The lives of Chadema leaders are currently at risk."
He said several other party officials had also gone missing, without giving details.
Rights groups and government opponents have raised fears the recent crackdown on the opposition could signal a return to oppressive policies.
The arrests came despite President Samia Suluhu Hassan vowing a return to "competitive politics" and easing some restrictions on the opposition and the media, including lifting a six-year ban on opposition gatherings.
Amnesty said the mass arrests in August were a "deeply worrying sign" in the run-up to local government elections in December 2024 and general elections due late next year.
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