After losing the General elections recently, Tanzania's leading opposition parties are trying to craft new methods of operation as the government is cracking whip on opposition.
The Party for Democracy and Progress, (Chadema) known for campaigning largely on an anti-corruption platform and the Alliance for Change and Transparencyâ€"Wazalendo (ACTâ€"Wazalendo) have reportedly begun holding indoor meetings to deliberate upon new strategies of conducting politics.
Local Tanzanian press reported Friday that the meetings between opposition parties comes is in the wake of crackdown on the opposition, including arrests of their leaders and members and the foiling of peaceful demonstrations that were called on November 2 to protest 2020 elections results.
Freeman Mbowe Chadema chairman and Zitto Kabwe ACT-Wazalendo party leader on Saturday held a joint press conference to call for peaceful demonstrations to protest results that gave CCM's John Magufuli a victory of 84.4 percent of the vote. But the protests were foiled by tight security across the country.
'Indoor meetings are in progress to come up with new methods of resolving the current political atmosphere. But our goal for endless peaceful protests still stands,' Mr Kabwe said.
On Thursday, Mbowe and Kabwe were summoned to Oyster Bay Police Station to record statements regarding their activities.
Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe (right), ACT-Wazalendo party leader Zitto Kabwe (centre) and former Arusha Member of Parliament Godbless Lema leave Oyster Bay Police Station in Dar es Salaam where they had been ordered to report after they were arrested and released on bail over allegations of mobilising popular demonstrations across the country.
'We are here to report to the police as ordered. We'll not stop organising ourselves to continue demanding for justice and the future of our party,' Mbowe told local press.
'Our preoccupation for now is on the human rights abuses that happened during the election. Our people are persecuted. Hundreds of people are in police custody while tens of people are not seen for weeks,' said Party leader Kabwe.
Ado Shaibu the ACT-Wazalendo secretary general on mainland Tanzania said his party is expected today (Friday) to announce to media its standing-point regarding the just concluded General Election and the fate of its members and leaders who are in hospital or police hands.
'We (the party) had a meeting on Wednesday in Zanzibar where we made several decisions that I'm not permitted to divulge to the public at the moment but will do so tomorrow (Friday),' Ado Shaibu was quoted in an interview with a local daily, Citizen.
Zanzibar Island: Supporters of opposition party Act-Wazalendo gathered during campaigns
Source : https://taarifa.rw/tanzania-opposition-parties-discuss-new-strategies-to-confront-government/
